


Into the Dreambubbles and Who Jane Met There

by LastNameWasTaken



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: A lot of talking, Angst, F/M, Gen, Guilt, Self-Reflection, characters to be added as they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-21 17:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11362401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LastNameWasTaken/pseuds/LastNameWasTaken
Summary: After [S] Game Over, Jane and Jake awake in the dream bubbles and try to sort things out. Unfortunately, guilt overtakes Jane and convinces Jake that the two of them should go their separate ways and traverse the Dreambubbles alone. However, the Dreambubbles aren’t nearly as empty as Jane expected.Turns out, sorting through your problems is a key part of the afterlife.





	1. ==> Jane: Wake Up

**Author's Note:**

> I told myself that I had to finish at least one chapter/story by the end of June, so… first chapter is a bit rushed. Second chapter may take a while, but hey, might as well get something done in the two months I’ve been absent right? 
> 
> As always, open for criticism, especially with how I write Jake’s dialogue… Jesus Christ I suck at that old-timely vernacular.

Jane didn't remember much after Aranea put her to sleep. She didn't _want_ to. The shame of her actions immediately hit her like a truck.

She knew what she had said to Jake, she knew how her intentions were twisted and perverted into something she knew it wasn't, she had hurt others too, not just Jake. All that guilt, all the shame of knowing what she had done to her friends and others hung over her like heavy clouds, 

The last thing she wanted to hear was Jake asking her if she was okay.

“Jane?” He said, his voice soft and low. He was nudging her, that much she could tell. “Jane, can you hear me?”

She decided to open her eyes, and now she could see him. Kneeling over her body with a worried look in his eyes—or, rather, the lack of them. She couldn't see anything beyond them, they were just white glasses. She remembers something Jake had told her during the downtimes in their session, about how he met a dead girl with white eyes; could this be it?

He's… dead?

Panic hits her. She wonders what the hell she did to him or… Jane stops, thinking it over. If he’s dead and she’s seeing him, then that must mean she’s dead as well. Unless she was dreaming, assuming the Dreambubbles worked that way. She knew Jake had done so, maybe Dirk too, but for herself she couldn’t be so sure.

“Jake?” she asks, sitting up. “Is that really you?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing.” He says with a laugh. But not a laugh Jane was used to. It's more a forced laugh, like someone wanting to lighten the mood during a tough situation. It breaks her heart, in all honesty, and it does is make her feel more guilty than she already did. Jane didn't feel as though he was doing this because he was worried about her, but because he was _scared_ of her. 

She looks around, now seeing she was on Jade’s planet… or the memory of her planet? She could see the Lava pit caused by Jake and Jade’s battle, with the broken parts of Jade’s tower scattered around. 

“What happened?” Jane asks. 

“You were brainwashed.” He begins. “All red and cold. I mean, cold hearted, y'know. Not literally cold. But, you went crazy hieress and wanted me to marry you and sire your children.”

Jane shivers, remembering her conversation with him in the cell. God—What the hell was she thinking? She hated admitting it, but she _did_ want to marry and have a family with him, but not like that. She didn't want him as her slave, she wanted him as someone she could cherish and love. He was an equal to her, not someone lower. 

“After that.” She says guiltily. “I… remember most of that.”

He shifts, now sitting cross legged. “Well, I don't know much, but I remember Aranea. She did some sort of magic to me, I guess I went super Saiyan or something? Or I guess the hope version of it. I know I was in a ball of hope explosion for a long time, then you stuck me with your big red fork.” He blushes. “That's— that's not an innuendo or anything. You threw your fork at me, and I died, then I was brought back.”

“I… remember that.” Jane admits with a guilty tone. “After?”

“Well… it's a bit blurry. A lot of things happened, but I distinctly remember Aranea put you to sleep, then tied to impale you with Brain ghost Dirk's sword. I jumped in front of you but… I guess it was useless, in the end.”

There was an awkward pause between the two of them.

“Why would you do that?” Jane asks, her voice low. “I was horrible to you. I threatened you, I belittled you… why?”

“Because you were brainwashed.” He says. “Jane, I knew you couldn't have been in your right mind. You were being controlled by an evil fish Queen. She probably thought that was something you had to do.”

“Jake, I…” she were afraid to tell him the truth. But how was she supposed to explain it? She knew what she was doing, but she wanted desperately to stop herself. It was as if whatever filter she had was gone, and now she was free to act on her own primal instincts. Was that really all she was? A cold, unfeeling monster who only sees others around her as tools for herself? “… I’m sorry. For everything.”

“I should be apologizing.” Jake says. “I mean, it is my fault.”

“Your fault?” Jane says with indignation. “Jake, everything I said to you was _my_ fault.”

“N-no! Not that! Well, I guess in some ways, that was still my fault.” He sighs. “I should have really thought about what I was saying to you, especially on your birthday. It was just—argh! I should have told Dirk myself, I should have waited until after your birthday at the least.”

“That’s not your fault!” Jane exclaims. “I shouldn’t… I should have kept my temper. I shouldn’t have blown up on you like that. You trusted me and I yelled at you. I can’t blame you for being a little socially inept, being raised on an island with no one to speak to in person. No offense, of course. You couldn’t have known how I felt—”

Jane cuts herself off, unable to finish her sentence. 

“About me, right?” He finishes. “Well, um… I hate to say I always had a suspicion, but I never had the gall to bring it up with you.”

“Really?” Jane asks.

“… You’re not upset, are you?”

Jane shakes her head. “No. I’m just surprised. But, um… if you did, why didn’t you bring it up?”

“Um. Well, I suppose I just convinced myself I must be imagining it, because you never brought it up.”

“… Well, I suppose neither of us can blame each other for that.” Jane sighs, leaning forward and looking over the memory of Jade’s planet. She put her head in hands, still not able to forgive herself for acting like… _that._ If she hadn't gotten so angry and reduced herself to tears, she wouldn't have alchemized Calliope's Juju, went on her sugar high trickster binge and gotten everyone else to join her; they wouldn't have ended up on their respective class beds on Prospit and Derse. They wouldn't have been killed and risen to God-tier, and she wouldn't have been brainwashed into that _monster_. They most likely wouldn't be dead by now, and she wouldn't have to sit here knowing how much she hurt her friends.

“I wish I was a better friend to you.” Jane murmurs. “Not just you, either. To Roxy and Dirk. I took my anger on everyone and made so many things worse.”

“I think we all did bad things.” Jake says indignantly. ”And besides, you can't really held responsible for what you did when you were the Red Dead Heiress.

 _You should tell him_. Said a voice inside her head

"I don't think so, Jake. I'm… scared of what kind of person I was when I was like that. It's like it dug up my worst traits and set them to full blast.” She confesses. Jake pauses, clearly surprised, but she couldn't tell if he was necessarily scared of her. At least not yet.

“Well… those were just bad parts of you.” Jake said. “I mean, what if I had gotten brainwashed and became a scary heir? I probably would have been someone similar. Maybe even worse. But you have good things about you too. Like, you're really nice and cheerful, and you like to make jokes and pull pranks. Sure, you get frustrated, but you still understood what you did wrong, like right now.”

There was a moment of silence between the two of them. Without speaking, Jane moved over and hugged Jake tightly, surprising him, but he hugged her back.

“Thank you, Jake.” She says. ”You're so kind. That's something I always admired about you. But,” she let's go him, standing up, and Jake follows her.

”Is something wrong, Jane?” He asks, concerned. She sighs, her heart heavy.

”I can't trust myself around you.” She confesses. ”I'm scared of what I might do to you. I know I'm not being controlled, but I'm afraid of hurting you again. Like I did on my birthday.”

Jake doesn't respond right away, averting his gaze to the ground. “Are you saying we should go our separate ways?” He asks quietly.

“Yes.” She says. “I think it might be the both of us, that's the problem. I'm… tempermental and you're not.”

“No, I think I may just be a jackass who's too afraid to face the facts.” He says guiltily, crossing his arms, and looking away from her. ”But I don't want to leave you forever. Especially not in this… empty place.” He looks up, and Jane does too, now seeing the vast expanse of Dreambubbles.

“Was that _always_ there?” Jane asks, bewildered. It looked… beautiful from where they where. She saw alien buildings, landscapes, and even some familiar places like Prospit or her own home. She could see what seemed like a pink cherry tree forest where the trees all had blue trunks; bright land of blues, yellows and pinks that constantly poured rain; and a dark blue land with glowing mushrooms and rivers of black. They were all encased in colored bubbles as if they were tinted glass domes. She couldn't see any source of light, but they all seemed to glisten.

“You didn't see it when you got up?” He asked. ”Come to think of it, I might have been blocking it with my big head…”

“Do-do you really think this is empty?” She questions. ”It just seems so big.” “I don't see anyone scampering around in there. And it just… goes on forever. I don't want to be away from a familiar face for so long.”

Jane frowned, not out of frustration towards Jake, but out of indecision. She didn't want to abandon him now, especially in such an unfamiliar place like this. Sure, they could think up familiar places, but it still wouldn't change the alien skyscape above them. Then, she had an idea.

”What if we met up in one of these Dream bubbles?” She said.

”Met up? What do you mean?” He asks. ”I'm not sure if you can leave them.”

”I think you once told me that Dirk did, right?”

”Well, yes. But he was dreaming, so he had to use Roxy.”

”We should be fine, then, right? Maybe we can fly up and see the other Dreambubbles. We could meet in that big blue one there,” she points to a blue bubble encasing a strange land that looked like some sort of colorful fairground, with wisps of light on the peaks of the tents. “If we can't leave, then we just float around this bubbles and meet back here.”

Jake smiles and nods, but she could tell it was forced. She felt terrible for suggesting it, but she felt even worse staying with him. Jane gives him an understanding look, placing her hand on his shoulder.

”Jake, for what it's worth… I don't want to leave you either. But I also don't want to hurt you again.”

”I understand.” Jake says. ”I don't want to hurt you either.”

He wraps his arms around her, pulling her close to him. Jane closes her eyes and hugs him back, feeling safe and loved in his arms. She didn't want to leave, she was so attention-starved after all this time; no doubt he was too. She buried her face into his shoulder, her eyes beginning to sting.

”I love you.” He says. The words were nearly enough to make her cry, but instead she froze. Tears were beginning to form, and she knew she had to leave soon.

With a deep breath, she responded with a shaky tone. “I love you too, Jake.” She let go of him, hiding her face and desperately trying to wipe away her tears. 


	2. ==> Jane: Meet an alien

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exactly what it says on the tin. Lots of talking.

A few things happened since Jane left Jake on the Memory of Jade’s planet.

First, she discovered she couldn't get through barrier of her Dreambubble. Second, she got lost when she was flying back down. Third, she found an endless maze of sandbars with singular trees, large purple rocks, and chests dotted around the landscape. And finally, backtracking did nothing. 

It felt as though days had passed, but with no way to measure time, she had no idea if it had been a few hours or a few months. It was only then when Jane realized how ill prepared she was to travel through the Dreambubbles.

Jane sighed. She supposed she should have expected the afterlife to be like this. A large, empty, stagnant place with only your memories to accompany you, and perhaps the dead selves of your friends. But she had left the only friend she knew here, all because she couldn’t trust the worst aspects of herself. She didn’t even know if there was anyone else here.

Well, at the very least, she could be happy that she had gotten lost and alone somewhere pretty. 

Jane began walking aimlessly along the sandbars, looking out over the maze. Seashells were littered along the sandbar just as much as the purple rocks and the trees. If she remembered what Jake had explained to her, this was a memory. She didn’t recognize the place at all, even though she had been on a few vacations with her father to some California beaches. Almost none of them were _this_ pretty. She reasoned that it could be someone else’s memory, most likely from a dead player and this was their planet. If that were the case, then someone else was nearby. All she had to was look for them, which wouldn’t be too hard considering the lack of obstacles—

“Excuse me,” came a sudden, unfamiliar voice behind her accompanied with a hand on the shoulder. Jane instantly went into panic mode; screaming, backing away, and turning around to see who the hand and voice belonged to. 

It was a troll, a fairly tall and skinny one with nubby horns and a red sweater. He seemed vaguely familiar, but she quickly focused her attention on his blank, white eyes; probably the only thing vaguely threatening about him. It did not take long for Jane to feel embarrassed about getting startled by him.

He crossed his arms, looking annoyed. “I would like to apologize for startling you. I was under the impression that you would fine with psychical contact via a hand on the shoulder, but it seems I was remiss. He said.“I will make sure to note psychical content as a trigger for you, and I will make sure others in this dreambubble are aware of your trigger.”

“Oh… well, that’s actually not why I screamed like that. I’m sorry, I just thought I was alone here. I didn’t expect to see anyone else.” Jane explained, embarrassed. “I’m Jane Crocker, by the way. If you don’t mind me asking, who are you?”

“My name is Kankri Vantas.” He said. “As you can see, I am a troll. Now, I don’t wish to offend or make assumptions, but I do wish to know your preferred species so that I can be more aware of how I should approach you.” He says the last part with a rather condescending tone, as if she were an inconvenience in some way.

Jane could only stare at him, completely perplexed. She understood that he wanted to know what species she was, but she didn’t understand anything about the ‘How I should approach you’ part. All conclusions she could have had for it didn't have very good reflections on Kankri; it came off as racist at worst or condescending at best. 

“I’m… human, yes.” Jane answered. “Despite being controlled by an alien at one point, I’m human through and through.”

“I offer my deepest sympathies for your plight, Jane human. Having your mind and psyche appropriated by an outside force is a very traumatic and emotionally taxing experience. It also gives someone a, excuse me, hell of a headache.”

“ _Jane human?_ ” She repeats, absolutely flabbergasted. “You can just call me Jane, there’s no reason for you to mention my species _with_ my name.”

Kankri was taken aback, as if he wasn’t expecting her to be offended. Regardless, he composes himself and crosses his arms. 

“I apologize again… Jane. ” he hesitated on her name, but Jane could tell it was less out of disgust and more out of reminding himself he didn’t need to say her species. “I admit I have not interacted with many human-identifying species in these Dreambubbles, so I may be ill-prepared to deal with your triggers and issues. I will do my best not to offend you in future conversations.”

She frowned. Jane couldn’t really find it in her heart to dislike him, or at least not a lot. He was condescending, sure, with how he talked about ‘respecting her triggers and issues’ as if he needed to handle conversations with her with kiddy gloves. It was annoying, but he didn't seem to be blowing her off completely. At the very least, he seemed to have his heart in the right place. He was fairly polite to her thus far, so Jane felt like she should cut him some slack. Might as well be nice to the first person you meet.

“It’s okay.” Jane said, “So, um… it looks like we’re the only ones here, huh?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to prematurely shut down your advances. I am a troll, you are a human, and I have taken a vow of celibacy.” He says abruptly, in an infuriatingly matter of fact tone. 

“Wha-what?” Jane exclaimed. “I was just trying to make small talk!”

“My apologies, but perhaps in the future you should think before you speak. One could easily misinterpret your tone and choice of words a sign of red affection.” He kept his condescending tone, as if his assumption was a fault of hers. 

“Look,” Jane says with an exasperated sigh. “I’m sorry, but I’ve been traveling for a while in this Dreambubble and I haven’t seen anyone in a long time. At this point, I’m just looking for someone to talk to.”

Kankri pauses, looking down at her as if determining if she was worth his time. Admittedly, as annoying as he was, Jane was just desperate for someone to talk to. Her time in the dreambubbles wasn’t extensive, but the sheer loneliness and vast emptiness of the place made her want to cling to the first flesh body she had seen. Maybe not in the literal sense, however.

“Very well.” Kankri says. “I see no harm in indulging you.” 

“That’s great!” She beams, “So, why don’t we start by getting to know each other?”

Kankri paused, just staring at Jane for short, yet uncomfortable amount of time. “… How?” He finally says, soundly genuinely confused. 

“Well, we can talk about things we like.” She offers. “For example, I like baking, pranks, and mysteries. How about you?”

Kankri stops to think, putting his hand on chin. “I suppose… I suppose I enjoy debate, reading, and discussions on troll social issues.”

“That’s pretty interesting.” Jane says, “Anything else? Hobbies?”

“… Debating and Discussing troll social issues.” He murmurs.

“You seem to really like troll social issues. Or just discussing and debating,” Jane says. Truth be told, she didn’t really know how to approach the topic, but she decided to encourage him anyway. Something about the way he responded to her made it seem like he wasn’t really asked these questions. It felt as if he wasn’t really given the chance to talk to people.

“Of course I am. Being of a non-comforming blood color on the hemospectrum I have several experiences of oppression and injustice. It would only make sense for me to be concerned about the well-being and plight of those like me.”

Jane was able to understand what he meant. Having the tiaratop hack into her brain endowed with some knowledge previously unknown to her, such as how she knew Jade and John were ectiobiologically her children. She knew some things about the Hemospectrum and Alternian society, such as how lower bloods were oppressed and violence against them was considered ‘fair game’. She also knew that there were some trolls who were mutants who didn’t fit anywhere in the hemospectrum. She could only assume he meant this by ‘non-conforming blood color’.

“So, on Alternia, you were a mutant?”

“I’m not from Alternia, and you should not use ‘Mutant’, Jane. Despite accurately describing what I am, it is also a highly offensive and problematic slur.” He says. “I am from Alternia’s previous and more peaceful incarnation, Beforus. But, yes, you guessed correctly. My blood type could best described as ‘candy red’ unlike the more darker-hued Burgundy blood. Because of this, I had no purpose within the hemospectrum and was culled. By the way, ‘culling’ on Beforus meant that one was taken care of by a high-blood, so if one like myself was a mutant, I would have been put under the care of the highblood once I reached adulthood.”

“Gee, that’s pretty sad.” She laments. It reminded her of whenever her father would ban her from leaving the house for her own safety. While it made sense with the assassination attempts on her, but it made her feel like she had no control over her own life. Kankri must’ve felt felt that way, with the idea that he could never have any control over his own life looming over his head. “You know, I actually understand what you mean.”

“You do?” Kankri asked.

“Yeah. Back on earth, I was the heiress to a baked goods corporation, which was really just a front for the Condesce to rule over earth. Some people knew about this and fought against her, and some people tried to make assassination attempts on my life. My dad ended up locking me in my house, and later, my room when he was worried I could be targeted. I always resented him for it, since it make me feel like I couldn’t take control and I was eternally helpless.” she explained. “I know that you didn’t really get to experience that firsthand, but with it looming over you, I can only imagine how that must have felt.”

Kankri paused, then averts his gaze from her, as if embarrassed. “Yes, I admit it was difficult for me. But, by focusing my attention on social issues, I was able to find a way to cope. Alas, my fellow sgrub players did not talk my discussions seriously.” He turns back her, crossing his arms. “Needless to say, I was not well liked in my group, despite being the leader. Anytime I tried to rally them together with lectures, I was ignored. The biggest obstacle to my leadership was Meenah, who would continually try to turn us against each other in a vain and very problematic attempt to make us stronger. Needless to say, it didn’t work.”

Meenah. Meenah, that sounded familiar. Jane could have sworn Jake had mentioned her, when he was explaining his adventure in the Dreambubble with Aranea. Was she the one Jake had attacked because he thought she was the Condesce? Jane internally shivered at the memory of the Batterwitch, the same woman who took away her will and made her… _that_.

“That girl, Meenah,” Jane began. “Was she related to the Condesce, in any way?”

Kankri nods. “Yes, Meenah is the pre-scratch incarnation of the Condesce. While in our Universe she hated the throne and wanted nothing to do with it, in the post-scratch universe of Alternia, she had ruled with an iron fist—”

“I know about the Condesce’s rule on Alternia.” Jane interrupted. “In fact, I was mind controlled by her using a tiaratop, so I was granted some knowledge about Alternia.”

“You were mind controlled by the Condesce?” 

“Well, it’s a little more complicated than that. It’s more like my will was bent to hers, so I could think and act, just not in the way I normally would have.” She explained. “It was… awful. Especially since I did so many horrible things, like threatening my friends and killing someone to bring them back to life as a warning. I didn’t _want_ to do it, but I did so anyway. The worst part is, I couldn’t look my friend in the eye after that.” 

She sighed, looking away. Kankri shifted his stance uncomfortably. “Well, I do understand what you mean, but perhaps not to the same extent.”

“Oh? Really?” 

“Yes. Recall that I mentioned mind control is a traumatic and emotionally taxing experience, as well as causing one, excuse me, hell of a headache. My experience with mind control is more recent, and it was far more extensive.” He took a deep breath. “You see, Meenah, whom I mentioned earlier, had a plan to attack Lord English by gathering an army of trolls. She attempted to recruit me, but I declined her offer. Not only because I would not be useful to the cause, but I find the idea of leading thousands of troll souls to their impending doom to be very problematic for several reasons. Regardless, despite my disinterest, Meenah would later meet the descendant of our fellow Sgrub player, who possessed the same mind control abilities. The three of them hatched a plan wherein they mind controlled innocent ghosts and coerce them onto ships as bait for Lord English. I was one of the many controlled by the two of them. As you can see, I was not one of the many causalities.”

“But if you weren’t, how did you get out the mind control?” She asked.

“I’m afraid I don’t know.” He says with a shrug. “I believe Aranea slipped her control on us, or she decided to stop—”

“Wait, you know Aranea?” Jane asks. “Aranea, she’s the troll who killed me!”

Kankri stopped dead in his tracks, staring at Jane. “Aranea, she… she killed you?” he asks, shocked.

Jane nodded. “Yes, she killed my friend and I. She resurrected herself by using the ring of life. I think she just wanted to do something important, but… well, I assume she did now.”

“It is… surprising to me that Aranea killed you and someone else. But, the idea that she would do something so drastic in order to feel important is not.” Kankri crosses his arms. “Aranea was always like that, craving to be the center of attention. Whenever she and I had conversations she would always steer the conversation to herself, while I would try to turn the conversation back to me. We would find ourselves in a verbal tug of war over the conversation topic, until we’d tire ourselves out. If I was not celibate, I’m certain she and I would have been Kismesises.”

“It doesn’t sound like she’d be very popular.” Jane said, “Then again, with how smug she was, I’m assuming without that craving for attention she would have been insufferable.”

“Aranea was not popular within our circle of friends. I wasn’t either, with my lectures and attempts at rallying our group up. But unlike Meenah, I was not able to secure a friendship with someone who had a similar reputation. I suppose it had to do with the previous problem.”

“Oil and water don’t mix.” Jane commented with a sigh, “I can’t really say I’m over Aranea. I admit I did worse under mind control, but she killed my ectobiological daughter right in front of me. Sure, it was for a good cause, but it still ticked me off! I suppose it’s my sixteen-year-old maternal instincts.”

“Being a highblood, Aranea would have been taught to act as such.” Kankri explained, “High blood society believes they know best for the lowbloods, and Bluebloods such as Aranea would have been taught that her judgement trumps those lower than her.”

“That makes sense, in retrospect.” She says. Remembering Aranea brought back her conversation with Jake, only for more guilt to hit her. God, had she really left him there? She knew she couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eyes after making thinly veiled threats to turn him into a sex slave, but now he’s possibly as lost and alone as she is. Maybe…

“Hey, Kankri,” Jane began, realizing she used his name for the first time. “Listen, I’m lost, and I want to find my friend again. We agreed to meet up somewhere if we could, but I can’t figure out where to go. It’s like a maze in here. I don’t even know if we can exit the bubbles. But, you seem to have been in here for a long time, so… I’m assuming you know your way around here.”

“I do.” Kankri says. “But, if you wish to exit the bubbles, I would suggest finding someone who has a grasp of time and space.”

“Are you one of them?”

“Uh… I’m afraid not.” He admits with a frown. “I do know two people who have a good grasp on time and space. But… I’m not keen on meeting them again.”

“Are you sure? I mean, why are you trying to avoid them, if you don’t mind me asking?” She asks, trying not to sound to forceful. Kankri crosses his arms again, looking sullen.

“To tell the truth, our space player and I don’t get along. She continually patronizes and fusses over me as if I’m a wriggler, and insists on calling me a nickname I will not repeat here. The time player I can tolerate, but her thick accent is difficult to understand; and what I little I _do_ understand is very sexual and offensive to almost anyone who hears it. Especially myself, due to my aforementioned celibacy.” Kankri explains with a huff. “I suppose the space player would help you, but I doubt the time player would. I also may know where the space player is, but not the time player.”

“It sounds like the Space player would be the better gamble.” Jane says. “You know where she is too, right? So why don't you take me?”

“I-I do, but Jane!” Kankri blurts, completely flustered, “Porrim—she’s not someone I like to be around. She’s patronizing and constantly tries to disrupt my discussions on social issues with pseudoscience and pet issues that have no place in my discussions. She and I _don’t_ get along.”

Jane steps back, looking Kankri over. It was true that she didn’t know anything about “Porrim”, for all she knew she could have been a bully to Kankri. On the other hand, she could just be an annoying friend of his, but so far Kankri hadn’t given her any reason to question his judgement beyond reason. His description of Aranea seemed to fit the portrait Jane already had; she was stumped. So, Jane was now stuck with three options. Either force him to take him to someone who is either a bully or just an annoying friend, and if she is the former than Jane will have to face the consequences of forcing her newfound friend be around someone he clearly dislikes. Or, she could have him take her to someone who not only makes unsolicited sexual comments, but would most likely be unwilling to help her. And finally, she could stay wandering in the dreambubbles forever. 

On the other hand, she _could_ ask Kankri to choose for her.

“Okay Kankri, how about this.” She began, “If you had to choose, who would rather be around?” 

Kankri’s brain seemed to sputter. He looked away from her, then at her, then away, and back at her. He seemed to be locked in an internal debate with himself, making almost every thinking gesture Jane thought existed. After a good five minutes, Kankri crosses his, and turns to her with a pouty and flustered expression.

“… _Porrim_.” He forces the word out like a quiet swear. “She at least is able to respect my boundaries.”

“So, you’ll take me to her?” Jane asks excitedly. Kankri nods, gesturing for her to follow her.

“Yes, but it’ll take a while. I have an idea of where she’ll be.” He says with a dejected sigh. “We can talk more on the way.”

Kankri walks down the sandbars with Jane trailing after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, how bout that? I _still_ don't know how to end chapters without making it seem abrupt and awkward. ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿
> 
> This came out longer than the last chapter, and I bet you can guess why. I think I did Kankri okay, but vocab and grammar continue to be my enemy when writing Homestuck characters. Although, I feel like I made him TOO nice. And I don't think he says 'problematic' enough. But, eh, what can you do? At least Jane is lonely enough to accept a tumblr sjw stereotype as a friend. Kankri certainly needs one, and I hope I was able to integrate my headcanons about Kankri appropriately :V
> 
> Next chapter I promise won't take as long.


	3. ==> Jane: Ask more questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh. First off, to anyone reading, I apologize for the long wait. Let's say a combination of writer's block and unwanted babysitting made it much more difficult for me to find the motivation and time to write this. I _may_ have spoken too soon about that 'The next chapter won't take so long.' 
> 
> Regardless, read and enjoy!

“So, I wanted to ask this earlier, but is this place your memory?” Jane asks, 

“No, but I have been here. It was the Land of Shoals and Shallows, our life player’s land, or as you know her, Meenah Peixes. She invited us here on the first sweep anniversary of entering the game to celebrate with fresh baked cake. Our session was quite turbulent and hostile, but during the celebration we were able to find solidarity and tranquility.” Kankri explained. 

“Meenah can bake?” Jane asked, “I… guess that makes sense. She does end up starting a baked goods empire. I suppose those skills had to come from somewhere.”

“Meenah… I cannot say I was ever terribly close with Meenah, so her baking skills were a surprise to me as well. To be honest, though we had talked, neither of us really got to know each other. In fact, like most relationships in our session, we spent most of our pesterlogs arguing. It was one of the main reason our session lasted for three sweeps. At least during the celebration, we were able to get along fairly well.”

“My session didn't last that long, but I know how the stagnation feels. It’s very… demotivating. Especially when you have no set goal and just killing monsters that don’t even yield much grist.” Jane sighed. “I tried having something similar, a celebration for my birthday. Which is the human equivalent of a Wriggling Day, by the way. I know Trolls don’t have birthdays. Anyway, I had a birthday party on my friend’s planet, but she was my only guest. Aside from a few carapaces, that is. My other two friends were having relationship problems. I didn't hear from one of them, but the other talked to me to just dump all of his problems on me. He didn't even ask me how I was doing.”

“That is very…” Kankri paused, as if looking for the right word. “… rude.” He finally gets out. “I would like to apologize both retroactively and proactively, Jane. I’m more attuned to dealing with societal issues and not strictly social issues between individuals. However, rest assured that if said issues between those individuals are related to societal issues such as classism, hemophobia, life-span shaming, culling culture—”

“It’s not a problem Kankri.” Jane cuts him off. She felt rude but also dreaded to hear him list off whatever nonsense-sounding social justice he had up his sleeve. She understood why Kankri would have been interested in this stuff, but it often felt like he was inserting it into conversations where it had no place. 

“It’s not like I was blameless.” She continued. “I yelled at him, and took my anger out on my friend too. I… I did some irresponsible things, which eventually led to me becoming brainwashed by the Condesce. It’s a really long, stupid story and not something I want to remember anytime soon.”

Jane crosses her arms and looks the ground, now noticing that the sand had given way to grey earth beneath her. She stops, looking around to see the grey landscape she and Kankri had walked into. It was a dead land with canyons flowing with water, the only color being the floating seedpods watering the dead land. 

“Kankri, how long have we been here?” Jane asks. Kankri stops and looks back at her, looking confused.

“You didn't notice? We’ve been out of the land of Shoals and Shallows for a bit now.” Kankri says. “We entered once you began talking about your session.”

“Is that how this place works?” Jane asks. “This is the Land of Crypts and Helium. It’s my land.”

“When you were speaking about your birthday, the land changed. The dreambubbles are meant to be tailored by memories, and they can have their entire structure altered by own’s thoughts. They are very fickle.”

“Sounds like it makes it hard for people to get through here.” Jane comments. “How are we supposed to find Porrim like this?”

“It’s difficult, but not impossible. Generally, the rule is to keep exploring, and recall your memories.” Kankri explains. “What we should be more concerned about are those who shut off certain parts of their memories, consciously or not. Only those who closed the memory can reopen it. If we cannot find the person who’s memory it belongs to, then we’re stuck.”

“Has that ever happened to you?” 

“Once.” Kankri answers, crossing his arms. “It’s complicated, but at one point I was stuck in the memory of my fellow player’s land. It’s difficult to measure time in the dreambubbles, but all I can say is I was stuck in there for what felt like three sweeps.”

“Goodness! That’s horrible!” Jane exclaims. “How on earth did you get out?”

“Oh, my fellow player eventually made her appearance. She took her time, however.” Kanrki answers with annoyance. He turns and continues to walk forward, Jane once again tailing behind him.

“So, this player, who was she?” Jane asks. “If we need to keep recalling memories, this should help, right?”

“Yes. But I don’t know if asking me to continue sharing memories is the right idea. Not with my memories of her land.” Kankri answers. “Besides, memories of player lands are more concerning.”

“Because of the puzzles? There weren’t any on LOSAS.” Jane gestures to her dead land. The two of them were walking along a path on a canyon, clear water pooling below. Jane could see the entrance of a crypt, wide open and the faintest splash of color showing through. “LOCAH doesn’t have a lot of above ground puzzles. Most of them were light based or skull-based anyway, and I was only focusing on getting my house elevated. Not exactly challenging.”

Kankri suddenly stops, and Jane does too. “What’s wrong?”

“The path ends up ahead.” He says, pointing to the end of a cliff. 

“That’s it?” Jane walks over to where he’s pointing, looking down. Like before, it was a long drop, but with a waterfall and water flowing far down at the bottom. She could see a temple surrounded by holes and large obelisks. The temple had three white lamps, all dimly glowing. “Oh, Kankri, I can fly down there easily.” 

“Yes, but I cannot.”

“So? I could carry you.” Jane says. She looks down, noticing the rock formation which looked like it could be climbed down. “ _Or_ , you just climb down here.”

“Climb down?” Kankri asks. He joins Jane, looking down. He immediately backs up, visibly shaken. “No! No, I’m sorry Jane. I can’t do that.”

“Oh come on! It's not that far.” Jane teases, patting his shoulder. “Where’s your sense of adventure? You couldn’t have gotten through Sburb without it.”

Kankri Frowns. “I am _not_ climbing down there.”

“Kankri, it’s not that far. C’mon, I’ll even show you how.”

Jane crouches down and places her foot on a small outcropping. There was enough room for her to crouch again comfortably, but it was still awfully narrow. Holding onto the rocks sticking out from the mountain, she slowly descends. It reminded her of the rock climbing attractions in playgrounds or large amusement parks. Only now, neither she or Kankri had any equipment to help them. But she wasn’t too concerned about that. She could fly, and both of them were dead anyway. 

“See? It’s not that hard.” She says. Kankri was looking down at her with a worried expression. 

“Jane…”

“Kankri, you can’t die again. We’re ghosts.”

“Yes, but falling from such a height will still hurt. I understand that it must be difficult for you to understand with your God Tier privilege.” He says with a rather disgusted and haughty tone. She knew he meant it as an insult, but it was too silly for her to take seriously. She laughs, earning her another annoyed look. 

“Fine! I will climb down!” He snaps, crouching down and doing his best to copy her movements, albeit very shakily. Jane let go of the cliffside to float near it, watching Kankri climb his way down. 

“You’re doing great!” She says, her hood flapping in the near-non existent wind. “What were you so worried about anyway? Didn’t your land have some of these?”

“No. My land was the Land of Crimson and Smog. It was mainly a delta of red rivers and suffocating smog.” He grunts. “But please, I’d rather not return there any time soon, so I would prefer we cease discussion on it.”

“Memory is the key for getting through dream bubbles, right?” Jane asks, “I think we can share some more memories.”

“But _not_ of LOCAS.” Kankri insists, shaking his head. 

“Okay, okay, fine!” She says, holding up her hands in defeat. “So, how about the land you got stuck in? Or any of your other player lands?”

“The land I found myself stuck in was the Land of Lily Pads and Lotus. Very beautiful, but also annoying to traverse. You usually had to jump from lily pad to lily pad.” He answers with a grunt.

“That’s not so bad. Was it your Space Player’s land? Because of the lily pads, and frogs like those.” 

“No, our Space player’s land was the Land of Bog and Frogs. She did not like it. It was actually our Heart Player’s land.”

“Heart? What does heart have to do with Lilly pads or Lotus?” Jane questions. “Granted, I don’t know what Tombs or Krypton have to do with Heart, but that was our Heart player’s land.”

“I think certain lands are only tangentially related to one’s aspect. The only concept I believed was relevant to my aspect was crimson. Which, ironically, was the same color as not only my aspect but my actual blood color.” Jane noticed his foot was barely clutching an adjacent ledge, so she flew closer to him in case he slipped. 

“Maybe it’s just not always in the name.” She comments with a shrug. “My land has no mention of life in the name, but I was _supposed_ to help it regain it’s life. What about yours?” 

“I had to figure out how to solve the issues of the consort society. This did not bode well, as many of the issues they had were more akin to menial tasks. However, the biggest task I had to complete was to clear the smog plaguing the land, and clear the rivers of their toxic red sentiment,”

“Did you?”

“No. Like most of my session, I failed to do this simple task before my death. My other players were no better, so after three years of meandering and incompetence we were finally able to initiate the scratch. Though Meenah blew up before it could reach us.”

“The more I hear about Meenah the more I dislike her.” Jane comments. 

“In Meenah’s defense, had she not killed us, we would have ceased to exist.” Kankri says. “The very least she did was give us a chance to live on as ghosts.”

Jane opens her mouth to continue, but notices something below Kankri. It looked like the the cliff cut off, but she knew that couldn’t be it. She leaves Kankri; who responds with a panicked outburst, and flys downward, under the cut off point.

Sure enough, it did cut off, with the top part of the cliff jutting out. But underneath was the opening to a cave. She couldn’t see much; but knowing how the caves in her land were, she flew inside, setting her feet on hard ground. 

Sure enough, familiar carvings decorate the walls and stone tablets are littered everywhere like copy paper. A small crevice of flowers grows under a wall cropping of the land’s consorts, a Salamander blowing a few bubbles. The smell of the flowers is surprisingly strong, somehow drowning out the musty save smell. Most of the cave is flooded, with pathways moving out every-which way, seedpods and their white roots spreading out in the water. Seeing the roots always creeped her out, but Jane moves on. She knew she had to make this quick, knowing that Kankri couldn’t stay there forever. 

Walking down the Cave, she could hear the faint sound of water rushing towards… somewhere. She tries watching the water to see where it flows, but can’t make out a particular current. An idea hits her, and she scurries over to the crevice of flowers. Plucking out a bright red flower, Jane brings it back and tosses it out into the water. Sure enough, it floats, and she watches carefully as it flows with the current, going south.

She puts her hands on her hips, trying to figure out the path it would take. There is a path going south, but she was hoping the rushing water from that way was the waterfall outside. _Damnit_. She needed a map for this.

Jane could faintly hear the cries of Kankri from outside, which snaps her out of her trance. She follows the path out, seeing Kankri’s legs dangling from the outcropping. He kept climbing down? Well, not that she could blame him, the transition seemed pretty seamless. She flies over to him, seeing his panicked face switch abruptly to rage and annoyance. Or, actually, a combination of two, and the lingering emotion of panic.

“What was so important that you had to leave me hanging from a cliff?” He exclaims, his face turning a dull shade of pink under his gray skin.

“Sorry! There was a cave down there!” Jane says, reaching for his arms to pry him off of the cliff. Kankri sputters a quick ‘Wait, No!’ before Jane pries him off and begins floating down, holding him by the arms. He wasn’t as heavy as Jane expected, but considering how skinny he looked, this was probably justified. His expression of fear melts away, now looking down a reserved, but somewhat embarrassed expression.

“Is this… necessary?” He asks, looking back up to Jane.

“I can hold you bridal style, if you want.” She says, flying under the outcropping and back towards the cave. “But next time. It’s not very easy to switch positions in the air, nor would be efficient.”

“Assuming this “bridal style” is the human name for the ‘Hand on back and under leg’style, than yes, it would be preferable, but no less humiliating.” He complains. Jane responds with an annoyed sigh. 

“So would you rather I hold you like this from now on? I don’t think this can be very comfortable for you. I mean, the _cramps_ you can get from these. I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you in any way! Maybe I should just drop you—” 

“Okay, okay!” Kankri cuts her off as the two of them fly into the cave, abruptly silencing himself as Jane sets him down. He brushes the dirt off him, stretching his limbs. 

“You—you can carry me in this… bridal style, next time.” He says, crossing his arms with an embarrassed expression. “Regardless, in the meantime, what is the significance of this cave?”

“I think it’s a way to get down to the waterfall.” Jane says, walking down the pathway and gesturing for Kankri to follow her. “See all those branching paths? I could hear rushing water echoing from somewhere, but it was hard to tell. I figured if it was leading outside, I could use the currents as a sort of guide.”

“But what proof do you have?” Kankri asks. “In my opinion it would be easier for us to scale down the cliff and reach the puzzles down there. Or, you could just carry me down like you did just now.”

“I can’t carry you down _all _the time.” Jane said, “Even though you’re so skinny, I don’t think I could handle carrying you down all the way. I only helped you this time because there would be no way otherwise. Besides, puzzle solving is fun!”__

__“It’s hardly much of a puzzle.” Kankri grumbled. “It seems more like a maze.”_ _

__“That’s still fun. Besides, we’re just following the current, It’s an easy maze.”_ _

__“True, but water currents are not necessarily linear, Jane.” Kankri states, as though beginning a lecture. “Water isn't exactly stable. It’s entirely likely that once we begin going south the water may change but the pathways don't.”_ _

__“Oh, I already thought of that.” Jane says. Wordlessly, she scurries over to the crevice of flowers, this time grabbing a handful. She throws out two plants this time—a green stalk with a bud and a bright red flower. The two float, flowing down with the current adjacent with the south walkway._ _

__“… Our session could use someone like you.” Kankri says, sounding genuine for once. “None of our players were particularly interested in puzzles. But you seem to know your way around.”_ _

__“Ah, thanks.” Jane says with a blush, mostly from the flattery. “But, if we’re going to this, we need more flowers.”_ _

__To Jane’s surprise, Kankri wordlessly gathered nearly ten bouquets worth of flowers, all of them carried in a make-shift pouch using his red sweater. What surprised her more was his pants— they coved his belly and possibly his entire torso. What kind of nerd hikes his pants up to his chest?_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to cut off near the end because the chapter was already getting too long. :V
> 
> Expect the next chapter sometime next month. I _promise_ more progression will come.


	4. ==> Jane: Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Progress is made, slow as it always is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter when I was supposed to be writing an essay for English 101 ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ 
> 
> thnx for the inspiration procrastination powers.
> 
> Unbeta'd like always.

Keeping time was an obviously useless thing to do in a place where there is no time. It could have been eight years since they started walking down this path. Luckily, it only felt like two hours, so at least she didn’t have to wait out that much time. 

The waterways were a very, very confusing and winding path. The caves were very large, and the pathways were mostly large walkways connected to the walls. The water flowed down below, about a good yard and a half below them. The path would often fork, with a new pathway leading into a new cave, yet as Jane figured out only one path would the one flowing. The rest of the caves carrying the water were just trickling down from somewhere else, so at least they weren’t actually going anywhere else. For the simplicity of the waterways, Jane had to praise it. But for the sheer length and complexity of it, it was just tedious and annoying.

Jane was relived that she wasn’t claustrophobic, but knew that if they stayed down here for much longer it was going to suck. Whatever tech these Salmanders used, they used it badly. Which made her wonder who’s memory this was. She certainly never went through an underground maze, did another version of her do that? Well, she had to give kudos to her, because this was really annoying, not engaging, and time consuming. That version of her had better have gotten some good loot for all of this.

“Jane, do you think we’re close?” Kankri asked. He still had a bit of brightly colored flowers with him, but there was no longer enough for him to carry in his sweater. He was carrying them in the crux of his arms, not unlike Jane when she had grabbed her first armful of flowers, which had now dwindled to a hoodie pocket full of them.

“I don’t know.” Jane said. It was difficult for her to make out the sound of rushing water. It was loud, but she couldn’t tell if it was just the echo. 

“Do you think we should turn back?” Kankri asked. 

“No, I think we’re too far away now.” Jane said. “Besides, if we go back, it’s just more wasted time. ”

“You should have just carried me down to the bottom.” Kankri grumbled. Jane didn’t refute, mostly because deep down she felt he was right. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction… or admit this was a bad idea. You have to stick your heels in and not back down, that’s what her neighbor always told her. Though in retrospect that’s probably why she ended up divorced.

Jane shakes off the memories of Earth and questionable advice, throwing a bright pink flower down below. It was bright enough for Jane to follow it in the dark, but as she watched it float away she noticed something a bit… odd. At a certain point, the flower abruptly sank. The only odd thing about it was the lack of warnings. Maybe it was the lighting and how far they were away (which wasn’t that far, now that she thought about it) but she was certain there wasn’t any warning signs to it’s sinking. It would be too light to sink until it became overloaded with water, but that usually took a while. 

Experimentally, Jane threw out two or three flowers. They hit the water, floating like the last one and separating from each other. About three minutes later, all three of them sank, but not at the same time.

Jane stopped, kneeling down to look at water. She couldn’t see anything underwater, but she could have sworn she had seen the water ripple, as if something was swimming. She reached into her hoodie pocket and threw out a handful of flowers that fell in a hefty clump. she watched closely as a pair of bright, orange horns poked their way through the surface, which was swiftly followed by a small, clearly female face wearing pink goggles.

Why did she look so… familiar?

“Jane, what are you looking at?” Kankri asked from behind her, but Jane didn’t answer, more focused on the troll below her.

“Hey!” She called. “Do I know you?” 

The troll girl looked up with wide, curious eyes (though it could have just been her goggles) and gave her a wide, shark-like grin. Jane shivered. 

With little warning, the troll girl disappeared underwater and reappeared on the side of the save opposite from Jane and Kankri. Jane watched as she climbed out of the water and then leaped off the cave wall like a pinball, landing in front of Jane and Kankri, shocking them both. Jane, in particular, stumbled back into Kankri; who fell backwards with his arms full of flowers and scattered them everywhere, covering himself with an array of lively flora.

“Hi there!” The troll girl exclaimed with a wide grin and friendly tone, holding her hand out to help Jane up. “I’m Feferi. Who are you?” 

“Oh… thanks.” Jane begins quietly, mostly still startled from Feferi’s stunt and feeling horribly awkward from her postion. “I’m Jane, by the way. ” She says, taking ahold of Feferi’s hand; which actually didn’t feel wet; and stood up to dust off her godtier robes. She looked over Feferi, first of all noticing just how young she looked. She couldn’t have been older than twelve, at least in human years. What really put her off were the blank white eyes, same as Kankri’s. Which, combined with her shark tooth grin, gave Jane some… uncomfortable vibes. 

“So, I assume from your sign, you’re one of the Condesce’s Heiresses?” Jane asks, trying to make conversation. She knew the Condesce had Heiresses before her, but she didn’t really know what their names or faces were. Feferi looked a little taken aback, but she just sighed. 

“So, you’re an hieress too, huh?” She asks, looking dejected.

“How did you know?” 

“You asked, silly!” Feferi says with a giggle, but something about it felt a little forced. “But, reely, it’s because of your robes. I think she goes for players like us. I knew she hated her heiresses, they were threats to her throne! But… I suppose I didn’t expect her to choose a human for a heiress.”

“It is odd, now that you mention it.” Jane said, thinking back on the info the Tiaratop granted her. “Humans don’t live as long as trolls, and we don’t have any special abilities. I don't think there’s any need for a human heiress.”

“Fuschia bloods like me don’t either.” Feferi says with a shrug, but she looks to the left, seemingly remembering something. “But, I hear through the bubbles and whispers that she had somehow given herself psychic abilities like most lowbloods. There were also a lot of rumors she could elongate someone’s lifespan!”

“Both of those are true.” Jane clarified. “But, what do you mean by whispers? Are there other people who know more about the Condesce?”

“No more than the two of us. Whale, I _do_ know this _reeeelly_ wordy troll who knew a lot about all kinds of stuff! Even other timelines!” She says excitedly, jumping up a bit. “But! I also hear things from the horrorterrors. They all talk to me whenever I go from Dreambubble to Dreambubble. Sometimes they tell me things about her, like how she controls humans or stories about how she conquered galaxies.”

Jane stared blankly at Feferi for a while. It was the mostly the talk of ‘horrorterrors’ that set off alarm bells in her head. Admittedly she didn't know much about them, but judging from what Condesce called her lusus Gl’ybglyb, they didn’t sound particularly pleasant. At most, she remembered Roxy mentioning off-handedly to her that her mother had interest in the things. Roxy described them as ‘a buchh o outer sapce tentacle montsers who cn like, do a bunch of weird shit to yuor brian n make u go crazy.’ There probably wasn’t as many typos, but the general description stuck.

“So… Horrorterrors.” Jane continues. “They talk to you?”

“Yep! They’re the only reason Dreambubbles exist in the first place.” 

“They _made_ this place?” Jane exclaimed. 

“Of course! I did too. In fact, all of my incarnations came together to make the Dreambubbles possible!” She boasted, puffing out her chest. Then it hit her.

“So if you made this place, then you can navigate through it, right?” Jane implores, grabbing Feferi by the shoulders.

“Of course I can!” She says with a big, sharp smile. Jane lets go of her, suddenly feeling as though she could bite her at any moment. Gosh! She was cute, but anytime she showed her teeth it was just unsettling. 

“Okay, that’s great.” Jane says with a sigh. My friend and I have been looking for someone, but now that you’re hear we can be on our way.”

“Your friend?” Feferi asks, “Oh! Yes, that friend, with the flowers. ” She looks behind Jane to see Kankri, still lying down completely deadpan as if still processing what happened to him. 

“Oh! That’s Kankri.” Jane says, only a little weirded out by the jdea of calling Kankri friend. But, only because of the short time the two had known each other. “We just sort of bumped into each other a while back, like us just now.”

“Is he okay?” Feferi inquires, 

“Well, I mean, I’m certain he is!” Jane answers, a little worried. She hadn’t head a peep out of them since she and Feferi started talking. Which was, what? Maybe ten minutes ago? He had more than enough time to interrupt her! “I mean we’re all dead, so not like any injury will have a lasting effect on us—”

“I would appreciate it if, in the future, you wouldn’t make assumptions about my condition.” Kankri says, sitting up and causing a cascade of flowers to fall from into his lap. A few were stuck in his hair, making him look like the older babysitter to a couple of eight year old girls who _really_ liked flowers. He didn't look happy, but after a good ten minutes covered in brightly colored flowery shit and not having anyone to worry about you, that could be expected.

”Hi there!” Feferi greeted, bounding over to Kankri with a youthful step, just like a young girl. “My name is—”

“Oh, I already know what your name is.” Kankri interrupted, his tone harsh. “You’re Feferi Peixes. The heiress apparent of Alternia, and Her Glorious Benevolence on Beforus. I have heard of you, so there is no need for you to remind me.”

Jane frowns at Kanrki’s tone. At the very least she understood what he was saying. With her earlier information on Meenah being the ‘Pre-scratch’ version of the Condesce, it made sense to her that Feferi would be the equivalent to… the Beforean version of herself? Geez, she wished she had gotten more information about Beforus from him.

Feferi didn’t seem to mind his tone but offered him a hand up. Kankri refused, brushing off the flowers and standing up with a huff. He was much taller than her; which wasn’t very surprising, and it seemed like he was trying to use his height as a way to… intimidate her? But, no, Kanrki. You can’t look threatening when as skinny as he is, wearing a red sweater, and with flowers in your hair. Feferi certainly didn’t seem to care about his behavior at any rate. 

“It’s so nice to meet a Kankri! I’ve meet so many Karkats, but never a Kankri!” Feferi beams. 

Wait—Karkat? Karkat as in the Karkat she killed and brought back to life? And Kankri and Karkat both have… Gahh! Damnit Jane! How can you figure out Feferi but not the one you’ve spent at least a day with now? Jane opened her mouth to announce this, but Kankri spoke first. 

“I can clearly see where our empress got her generalist thinking from; by which I mean, it’s good to know our empresses was always like this. By which I also mean, it’s actually quite terrible to know that you’re every bit as dismissive as I expected.” He says, and Feferi’s happy expression quickly disappears. She steps back, and Kankri steps forward.

“I can plainly see from your expression that you’re aware of the way your Beforean counterpart treated lowbloods, particularly non-color conforming individuals like myself. We were not allowed to peruse any goals or interests, because you deemed us useless for the caste and society at large. Oh yes, I can certainly see your latent bias against Mutants like myself. You may not want to exterminate us, but you do know how to silence and alienate us just like your ancestor did in your universe.”

Feferi was trembling, clearly shaken by Kankri’s words. Jane frowns, now filled with anger. She walks up to Feferj, puts her hands on her shoulders, and turns her away from him. Jane wasn’t very tall, but she was still big enough for Feferi to reach her chest, so at least she could pretend to be a soccer mom. Actually, Mom was too old. Protective sister was more accurate. 

“Kankri, can I talk to in private?” Jane says, guarding Feferi behind her and looking up a Kankri with an expression of restrained anger. Kankri just huffed, crossing his arms again. 

“I was in the middle of a lecture, Jane. In the future, I would also—” Kankri was cut off by his own yelp from Jane grabbing his ear, dragging him away from Feferi who looked on with worry. Once they were at a distance where Jane was convinced she couldn’t hear him, she let go.

“What are earth were you thinking?” Jane hissed, putting her hands on her hips. “You can't just pin everything wrong with your society onto her. Just because she looks like this Gracious Benevolence doesn't mean she is her. She’s just a kid!”

“Her _Glorious_ Benevolence,” Kankri corrected, rubbing his ear. “For the record, that girl is Her Glorious Benevolence. She just so happens to be the post-scratch iteration of her.”

“So what? She’s still not the empress who oppressed you. Meenah, for all I know, could be a massive bitch but she still isn’t the Condesce who brainwashed me. It would still be wrong for me to unload all my issues onto her—not to mention inefficient! She and I literally have no history together. I would get zero closure out telling her how much she hurt me. Do you get it?”

“That may be the case, but so far Meenah’s actions line up near perfectly with everything the Condesce has done. The Condesce was simply an incarnation of Meenah who was given the free reign to act on her whims.” Kankri argued. “Her Glorious Benevolence is the same way. She’s the incarnation of Feferi who was given the chance to act on her own whims. The base society she created was one of hate and prejudice. It was simply the non-violent version of Alternia,”

“Kankri. Making people feel bad for actions they never committed is no way to make people join your side.” Jane exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air. “Feferi isn’t Her Glorious Benevolence. Maybe she has the same views as her, I don’t know. But telling her she’s already a bad person isn’t going to change her. You’ll only make things worse.”

Kankri didn’t say anything in reply. Instead, he looks away from Jane with a shameful expression. No doubt he was already regretting his previous actions.

“Just go over there and apologize.” Jane says, breaking the pause. “If she is Gracious I’m sure she’ll forgive you. If not, then you can just tell me ‘I told you so’.”

“It’s Glorious.” Kankri corrected under his breath. 

Jane grabbed Kankri by the arm and lead him over to Feferi. Luckily, she didn't seem like she was crying, so already Jane knew she had some thick skin. She pushed Kankri towards her, who looked up at him while Kankri avoided eye contact.

“Kankri would like to apologize.” Jane began, nudging him. 

Kankri took a deep breath. “I… apologize.”he begins. “After a short yet enlightening talk, my friend Jane here pointed out it was problematic of me to blame you for the actions of your Pre-Scratch Self. While you are the same person, you have grown up in different environments, have different memories, and have executed very different actions, setting you apart from Her Glorious Benevolence. Once again, I apologize for venting my frustrations out on you. I promise to do my best not to do such a thing again.”

Kankri stands there for a while, with Feferi looking up at him with a neutral expression. Jane looks at Feferi from behind him, trying to read her but getting nothing in particular. Feferi then closed her eyes, and in a sudden change, she gave him a big, sharp smile.

“All is forgiven!” She beamed. Kankri stepped back, whether from Feferi’s smile or something else, Jane couldn't figure out.

“You… forgive me that easily?” Kankri asked, surprised.

“Of course! You apologized, so I must forgive you.” Feferi affirmed. “All the Karkats I met described you as arrogant and shellfish. But you’re reely polite once you get past that.”

 _’… she didn’t deny he was either of those.’_ Jane thought to herself, and decided to keep it that way. Kankri didn’t seem like the type to make friends easily, but at least now he was able to endear himself to someone.

“So, Feferi,” Jane began. “Like I said earlier, Kankri and I were looking for a guide to lead us through the Dreambubbles. I'm looking for a place where I'm supposed to meet my friend, but I got lost easily. I thought Kankri could help me, but he just said he could help me find someone who could help me get there.”

“Jane, I offered my best.” Kankri grumbled. 

“I never said you didn't.” Jane said, nudging his arm. “But, we ended up getting lost down here. So, do you think you could help us?”

”Oh, of course!” Feferi said, “Just follow me~!”

Feferi turned on a dime and gestured for the two to follow her, running down the walkways towards where ever the hell they led. Jane immediately followed after her, no questions, while Kankri stayed behind for a split second to process on what just happened. He ran after them as well, shouting about how it was troublesome for them to leave him in the dust.

Maybe it was the adrenaline or Jane’s oh-so-hopeful heart, but it didn't feel as long to reach the end of the underground maze as it did when they were traversing it. Maybe having a fishy princess as her guide was better than an arrogant sweater boy. But Kankri wasn’t so bad once you get past that, like Feferi said. He seemed like he actually able to acknowledge his flaws.

She could hear Kankri calling for her and Feferi as she chased after Feferi, his voice echoing through the cave. She didn’t know how far behind her he was, maybe that was this place’s trick. Feferi seemed boundless in energy, and she was fairly far ahead of her. Maybe she just knew how Dreambubbles worked inside and out—she did make this place after all—and somehow she could bend it to her whim, like a reality warper. 

Jane could see the light shining up ahead, something bright. whatever it's was, it was somewhere brighter than her dull planet. Yes, it was a new memory, she was sure of it. Feferi stopped at the exit leading to it and turned on her heel, waving to Jane enthusiastically. Jane, now just happy to see the possibility of a new memory, ran even faster now. She came closer and closer to Feferi, who was now shouting something—was it slow down? Well, what was she worried for? Jane could fly and it wasn’t like she could worry about death any—

Jane tripped, right at the point where Feferi was standing, falling over the cliff Feferi was standing right in front of. Out of shock, Jane didn’t activate her flying abilities, instead plummeting to the ground and landing with a hard _splash_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told ya'll I'd be postin within the next month :P
> 
> (Props to anyone who recognizes a certian reference I hid in this chapter)
> 
> Also! Guess what is next month? Yep—October! Which means Johnrose week is coming up, and I'm going to do my best to finish up those prompts and post them during the week. Preferably within one fic, b/c I consider that to be more efficient ;o
> 
> There's also November after that, which is a ship month for a fandom I recently got into, but I'm not going to reveal the ship quite yet. I'm sure anyone who follows my main blog probably knows what I'm talking about. I'm not going to write a fic for every day of course (I mean really, I can barely get out a chapter every month), but after October I'm going to switch gears and focus on that lovely ship. 
> 
> TL;DR, This fic might be going on Hiatus for a while. But I sure ain't gonna abandon it. Do I look like a quitter to you? Nope! But I'll do my best to make up for the long wait, maybe by checking in on a character we've been neglecting, I promise.


	5. ==> Be Jake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Vegeta voice) I'M BACK BITCHES  
> Alright, things happen, but I have a new chapter! New one should be out soon, and if I decide to write another Jake chapter then that means three this month. I mean, really, it's only fair after such a long hiatus.

Like with many things, Jake didn’t know what to do. Usually when faced with such a situation he would use his genre savvy knowledge to come up with a solution, but he didn't watch a lot of movies about death. At least not like this. He doesn’t even know what type of movies dealt with purgatory, or even if they existed. His second option was to look for advice, but he didn’t even have _that_ now. 

Jake lays down on the stone of Jade’s broken house, looking up at the dreambubbles above him. Like before, spineless Jake couldn’t convince Jane to stay with him. But after the way he treated her, why would she? Why would any of his friends want to talk with him after the way he blew them off and acted so goddamn oblivious? Of course they didn't want to stay with you Jake, you were so spineless you can’t even bring yourself to acknowledge your friends have lives that don’t accommodate you. Stupid, stupid Jake. 

He stands up, stretching his legs. He still didn’t like the Page outfit, sooner or later he’d have to get some tights. It reminded him of the costume Rohin wore in Batman. Looking back he always thought the costume was cool in a flashy way, but now he had no idea how Robin could run everywhere in what was basically a speedo. Maybe he could opt for a compromise and where the underwear on the outside, like a proper superhero! 

He walks to the edge of the ruined building, looking down. It didn’t seem that big from where he was before, but that was perspective for you. He flies down, landing his feet on the lush, green ground. He could see the lava lake, with it’s ruined builds scattered in it like a broken lego tower. Somewhere, he could hear something like a bike horn, but he doesn’t see anything or anyone riding a bike nearby. 

Unsure of what to do next, he walks. Walks through the forest of Jade’s planet, the ghosts of the hummingbirds, frogs, and occasionally iguanas running around him. The forests of the planet were like the set of a great, fantasy movie full of life. Well, more real and less computerized, but beautiful none the less. 

He wondered how Jane was doing, in the dreambubbles on her own. It wasn’t like there was any danger to be found there. They were already dead, so what could happen? On the other hand, he was worried about her getting lost. He had been in the Dreambubbles before, all thanks to Aranea, but now he didn’t have the guide of someone with centuries of experience. But he didn’t want Aranea there with him. Anyone else would be fine. He looks up, seeing the green canopy above him. He can’t see the dreambubbles in the sky, much less the blue bubble with the circus tents. He wondered how he should get there. He was sure Dirk had told him he just exited, but he was a weird... dreamghost or something. Maybe if he just... flew up. 

He reached the top of the trees, looking over the planet’s landscape for anything interesting. Surprisingly, he did find something. A black, cylinder like platform far, far away. Something about the platform seemed... strange to him. He never saw anything like it on his planet, full of burial mounds and mini stongehenge circles. But the adventurer in him told him it was something new, something to be investigated. He looks up, seeing the blue bubble with it’s circus tents still above him. Jane would probably be a while, he thought, and flew towards the tower. 

As he drew closer, he could see a black bed with space symbol on it. Like the one Jade wore. He immediately deduced this must be a quest bed, and he noticed two figures sitting on the end opposite of him. As he came closer, he recognized the dog ears, long black hair, and black robes as Jade Harely, his penpal/grandmother! She was sitting very close to a blonde boy, clad in red, and he noticed the two of them were talking in hushed voices. Landing quietly, (he figured being louder would be rude) he clears his throat. 

“Excuse me. ” He says. Both of them jumped, the red boy in particular standing up and turning around. His eyes were obscured by dark shades (which looked oddly familiar) but Jake could tell he was startled. Jade, meanwhile, looked behind herself to see him, and her jaw drops. 

“I hope I wasn’t interrupting a private moment.” He continues, half jokingly. 

“Gra—I mean, Jake?” Jade says, now standing up. She walks around the bed, and Jake walks to meet her. She covers her mouth in disbelief. “You… what are you doing here?” 

“Well, I think it’s obvious. I died.” 

“Yeah, but how? I thought you in the middle of going Super Saiyan Supernova.” Said the red boy. 

“Er... right! Funny story about all that.” Jake said. He tried to explain the blanks best he could, about Jane and Aranea and everything that happened right before he threw himself into harms way for Jane. It wasn’t a lot, but he hoped they’d understand. 

“... So, just like that. You threw yourself into harm’s way? For Jane?” Jade asks, holding her chin in one hand. 

“Right! She would have died otherwise. I didn’t want her to die, not with that blasted tiara controlling her.” 

“I know. But even after all those things she said to you?” Jade questions. 

“Well, those were just words. Really scary words... but that wasn’t even proper Jane. I talked with Jane before I found you two. Oh! Speaking of which...” He turns to Dave. “I don’t believe I’ve caught your name. I’m going to take a gander and say your surname is ‘Strider’. Something with a D...?” 

“Dave.” He says, holding out his hand, which Jake took. “You remember me, right? I was in the Dreambubbles with Aranea and that pink fish chick. Then you flipped out and started beating on her, screaming a bunch of bs about sea hitler.” 

Jake paused, his expression neutral upon remembering him making a total ass out of himself. He lets go of Dave’s hand. “Sorry I didn’t remember you.” He follows up. “Sometimes I forget things. Usually has to do with hitting the noggin all the time.” 

“That explains it! Your head got bonked by the solid gold fork so hard you woke up and forgot everything. Maybe you have more in common with forgetful Jade here.” 

“Hey! I haven’t forgotten about a lot of things in a long time!” Jade said, her hands on her hips. “Besides, we were just talking about Jake.” 

“Well, that’s great and all, but what I’m most curious about is what you two were up to.” Jake said. “You two seemed to be really close.” 

“That was just personal bullshit.” Dave says with a shrug. “Shit about dying, responsibility, all that junk. I don’t think you’d be interested.” 

“Funny you mention that. It just so happens I have a personal matter of my own.” He says, crossing his arms. “There’s a dreambubble I want to get to, because that’s where I’m meeting Jane again. I don’t know how I’m going to get there, though.” 

“Oh! Well funny you mention that.” Jade says. “Because Dave and I were just talking about how he wanted to meet someone too.” 

“Wow, no way! Who is it? Mayhaps I can tag along with you both.” 

“It’s my bro.” Dave sighs. “Or I guess your teenage version of him.” 

Jake frowns. “Oh. You mean Dirk, then.” 

Now it was Jade’s turn to frown. “Sorry about... Dirk, by the way. Not the brain-ghost one in your head, the real one.” 

“Well, that wasn’t your fault.” Jake said, “It was the Batterwitch; taking ahold of your minds and bodies like the tentacles wrapping around a curvaceous, bikini-clad woman.” 

“Hey, Jake, you’re a cool guy and all, but please don’t make anymore analogies about Tentacles.” Dave says. 

“Noted. And besides, I think it may be good for me to see Dirk again. I haven’t actually talked to him since... well, a lot of things in our session.” 

“Then you can come with us! And we’ll both bring you to the Dreambubble you want.” 

“That sounds riveting!” Jake says with vigor. “Say, why don’t I fill you in on what happened in our session? Maybe we can swap stories!” 

Jade and Jake jumped down from the platform, with Jake already talking her ear off about his session. Dave followed them in tow, his arms crossed.


	6. ==> Go Back To Jane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got three chapters! Well, it was supposed to be one, but I had so much I decided to cut up. 
> 
> Besides, it’s only fair. Five month Hitaus and all.

_Jane, this is why you don’t let your emotions dictate anything you do._

Was Jane’s first thought when she hit the water with a hard splash. Appropriately it sounded like concrete being dropped, and that’s exactly how hitting the water felt. Her ribs ached, she felt like the wind was knocked out of her, and her lungs burned. Though despite the warning, the threat of drowning hadn’t dawned on her quite yet. Then again, it’s not like she could die a second time; and if she could, _drowning_ certainly wouldn’t be the way to go.

Kankri was right though. Getting hurt _sucked_ in the afterlife.

But being already dead aside, being underwater like this just scared her. Maybe it was the dark, murky depths below waiting for her that caused her to shiver. It only got heavier and darker the deeper you go, sucking you into the abyss below where no light can escape. 

Okay, no Jane, time to stop. If you stay down here you _will_ succumb to that great abyss; monologuing won't change that. 

She opens her mouth, watching the bubbles float up. She could still see the light shining down, however dull it was. At the very least she wasn’t really sinking but was at a weird pace where she seemed to be pulled ever-so-slightly by the current. Jane didn’t really go swimming a lot, at least no where particularly deep, like the middle of a lake. Still, she knew how to swim up for air, so maybe her inexperience in such situations wouldn’t hold her down. She began swimming upwards, using the water as a way to push herself up to the surface. It was still difficult, but really it was only because she didn’t swim like this. Occasionally she would find herself being pushed down by some unforeseen force, likely the pressure, which made her stomach jump. But she had to remind herself not to panic.

As she grew closer to the surface, she could see a dark shadow of someone above her. It was difficult to make out just who exactly it was, but she had a hunch it _had_ to be Feferi. The shadow in question seemed to have thick hair like hers, or just a really wide and messed-up head. She was pretty sure trolls didn’t have that. As she draw closer, she seemed to be right, and a grey hand plunged into the water. She grabbed with both hands, giving herself a few final kicks before breaking the surface with a gasp, getting a knee up on dry land. She coughs, the sting of water in her lungs very apparent. 

“Thank you, Feferi.” She gets out between coughs. “I suppose I got too excited.”

“You’re welcome!” Says a loud voice that was, very distinctly, not Feferi. Jane slowly looks up to see the owner, and realizes her mistake.

It was another white-eyed troll; one with two nubs for horns, like Kankri’s but more… catlike? She was wearing an olive green sweater with a leo sign, along with a black ruffled skirt. She didn’t seem particularly skinny or muscular, somewhere in between, but one thing that stuck out to her was her cat mouth. The troll grinned out her. 

“My name’s not Feferi by the way.” She continues with a laugh. “My name is Meulin! Meulin Leijon!”

Jane smiled, mostly out of habit. A new troll, now the third one she’s met so far. “It’s nice to meet you.” She says, now sitting cross-legged on the lily-pad. “My name is Jane. So... um, do you mind if I ask where I am?”

“You’re in the Land of Lily Pads and Lotus.” She says. “I can tell from your robes you’re a life player. I know a life player too, I bet you two make a purrfect couple!”

“That’s so nice of you. But I’m not too keen on romance, right now.” She says, chuckling in a friendly way to listen the mood. 

“Now it’s my turn to ask!“ Meulin says, clapping her hands. “Where’d you fall furrom? It seems strange that a human come around here. Especially from the sky!”

“I was just with my friend, and new friend. Well, technically speaking, they’re both new friends.” Jane clarifies. “My newer friend was trying to lead us a way out of the cave, but I didn’t look and I tripped, falling all the way down here.”

Meulin looked at her, inquisitively. “Hmm. That’s purtty strange you just tripped and fell like that. Maybe the ground went out under you?”

“Does that _happen_?” Jane asks, completely perplexed

“Of course! All the time, mainly whenever someone remembers a memeowry all of the sudden.”

“Oh, I think you mean a sudden.” Jane says, then winced at her behavior. “Grammar! Sorry, it’s a bit of a pet peeve of mine with friends.”

Suddenly, Meulin gasped, covering her mouth. Jane looked at her worryingly, wondering if she already offended her. Instead, Meulin screamed like an excitable teenager.

“MOG!” She exclaimed, waving her hands with joy. “MOG! You already consider me your furriend!” Meulin hugs her, rather tightly. “This is gonna be so grrreat! We’ll talk about shipping and write sooo many fanfics, it’ll be _so much fun_! You can even help me sort through my shipping scrapbook! You’ll love it, trust me!”

“But we just met!” Jane protests, “Isn’t it a little fast to consider me your friend?”

“Well, the feeling is mutual, right?” She asks, letting go of Jane. She wasn’t upset, instead keeping her smile. Jane wasn’t really sure how to answer. Meulin seemed friendly enough, if very excitable, but it still felt weird to declare her friends after such a short while. Then again, she had done the same with Kankri and Feferi. 

“Well… maybe not now, completely. But as we talk more, sure!” Jane says with a big smile. “But I right now I just need to get back to my friends. It... really seems like I fell a long ways.”

Jane looks up, seeing the cliffside had now, seemingly disappeared. Confused, she turns back to Meulin. 

“Do things disappear all of a sudden too?” Jane asks. “Because the cave I fell from isn’t here anymore.”

“Not from what you can see.” Meulin says. “It’s confusing, but memeowries comes and go. I think your furriends are in the middle of a transition phase.”

“What is that?”

“It’s what happens when memeowries mix start to fade and you find yourself somewhere else. Usually when you start to remempurr something.”

“I don’t think it was me who remembered this place.” Jane says. “I’ve never been here before.”

“Then it’s likely one of your furriends did.” Meulin says, “If they’re in the middle of a transition phase, then we’ll see them soon. Until then...” Meulin sits on the lilypad, cross-legged. “Let’s get to know each other!”


	7. ==>Interlude

— Interlude — 

  


==>Be Kankri

  


Jane had fallen, rather suddenly, and in a way Kankri could not fathom.

He was used to the odd sort of scenry and bizarre architecture from memories constantly writing over each other. Even in cases when so many memories were fragile to the point of breaking, something like this rarely happened. He couldn’t help but feel angered by Feferi’s reaction, which could only be compared to a reaction fitting to inconvenience. He knew Jane told him to be nice to her, and maybe he could try. But he could only see the dreamy, condescending image of Her Glorious Benevolence. Still, he grits his teeth, stepping forward to confront Feferi.

“You’re the creator of the Dreambubbles, aren’t you? Why in the world did she fall so suddenly? Where did she go?”

“Ree-lax!” Feferi said, not nearly as loud as he expected. “Jane can’t die twice! It’s impossible. Besides, once she hits the bottom she’ll probubbly just be a little hurt. But nofin that won’t heal in time.”

“But _why_ did the dreambubble just collapse? And right after you stopped there, she should have just tripped.”

“Well… I don’t know. It’s a little strange for the memory to transition so quickly.” She says, putting her hand on her chin. “If I am honest, I don’t think something like that is a good sign. I think this dreambubble might be dissolving. If so... you and Jane should be leaving soon.” Her eyes widened, as if such a thought just occurred to her. “And everyone else here! Kankri, this isn’t good!” 

Feferi began to pace, biting her lip. “Oh no, oh no, oh no! I know... I know I shoudln’t be so… so nervous. But I’m the one who made these dreambubbles! _I’m_ the one with all the responsibility! Me and all my incarnations, this was supposed to be our new kingdom. But with the Dreambubbles being destroyed, horrorterrors being slain, and now dreambubbles becoming less stable as a result; I can’t stop it.” She turns to Kankri, pink tears in her eyes and glowing with desperation. “Kankri, _everyone here is my subject and I can’t help them!_ ” 

Kankri frowned, not in annoyance, but rather in worry. He knew that dreambubbles could house as many as a few thousand ghosts at one time. He had been in a bubble that burst. He didn’t die, but the time of floating to another bubble was hellish. It might as well be the void after death. He was lucky to find this bubble, and with time, Jane and now Feferi. In a altruistic sense, one that made him feel like he could help others, he wanted to help them escape the fate he had. Well, as much as he could with... Her Glorious Benevolence.

No, no. He can’t think of her that way. Jane told him so. She was Feferi, and she needed help. Right now, he did see an empress, but it was one who was terrified of seeing her subjects put in horrible situations.

“Feferi.” He states, crossing his arms. She looks at him, surprised and with dry pink trails down her gray cheeks. “Pardon my blunt nature, as I did not have the time to adequately gauge what triggers may be appropriate for my upcoming advice. In addition to this, my advice will not be very eloquent. However, I must know if you are willing to receive it. Do you wish to receive it?”

Sniffing, Feferi composes herself, wiping away her tears and straightening her posture. With a breath in and out, she spoke. “Yes, I would like to hear your advice.” 

“Considering you and your incarnation’s position as the creator of these dreambubbles, I think it would be wise to say you should make an attempt to get the message out to your other selves. Perhaps by some form of communication via mass rebubbling.” He begins. “I also believe that you should make some attempt to come in contact with a heart player, as they can help you find lost souls, and perhaps even your own. Another solution would be to, somehow, come in contact with the horrorterrors to see if you may convince them to tighten their security around the dreambubbles. And by tighten their security, I mean convince them to help stabilize the dreambubbles, assuming such a feat is possible with their waning numbers.”

Feferi nods, now thinking herself. “Those all sound like reely good solutions.” She says. “In fact, the rebubbling sounds like the best bet right now! Plus, I can contact the Horrorterrors, but I think I’ll do that after I get you down. And if I’m really lucky, maybe I can find our heart player! Or, even better, a fellow time player.” 

Rather suddenly, she hugged Kankri. He stiffened, not sure how to process such a sudden and bold display of affection. “Thank you so much Kankri.” She says. “I can really see the resemblance between you and Karkat now!”

“Uh... Thank you, Feferi.” He says awkwardly as Feferi releases him. She looks up at him with big kind eyes, and he looks away. “However, I do request you refrain from such extravagant displays of Pale affection. Not only are you much younger than me, but I happen to be celibate.”

She frowns, blinks, then laughs as what he says gets through her. “That wasn’t me flirting, silly. I was just trying to thank you!”

Kankri could feel himself blushing, as she continues to erupt into a fit of giggles. It slows down and finally stops once she notices his embaressed expression. She’s still smiling, but it’s more apologetic this time.

“Buuuut... I should apologize.” She admits. “Sorry for hugging you so suddenly like that. I shoaln’t expect you to be so open with a stranger like me.” She then shakes her head, as a way for her to transition to the nexg topic. “Besides! Let’s get you down and find Jane.”

“Please don’t carry me.” Kankri requests with a sigh. Feferi nods, hooking her arm around his. 

“I won’t have to.” She says. “But take a deep breath! It helps with the fall.”

“The what?”

Feferi leads him off, jumping down with a whoop, and Kankri screaming all the way down.

  


—Interlude: End—

  


==> Be Jane Again

  


“… So that was it’s own thing.” Jane finishes with a sigh. “I said and did a lot of things that I look back on with a lot of regret. I’m actually afraid to admit a lot of this, because I’m worried you’ll look at me differently.”

“You shouldn’t worry about that! I already know you’re feline really messed up about it.” Meulin says. “You should be happy you’re so upset, beclaws it means you know it’s wrong, and you can change.”

Jane looked at Meulin, her expression unsure and still full of worry. “Are you sure?”

“Pawsitive!” Meulin confirms, booping her nose. “I know a bit about the heart, Jane. I’m a Mage of Heart!”

“Really? My friend Dirk was a heart player too.” Jane says happily. “I don’t actually know what heart does though. You two are really different.”

She laughs. “Of course we are! All players are diffurent. Some more than others. But heart has to do with the Soul of a purrson. Usually, Heart players like myself have to deal with motivation behind why people might do something. It’s about understanding a purrson from the inside out.”

“Oh! That’s pretty nifty. I can see why Dirk would be a Heart player then.” She says, laughing a little at how well Dirk fit into his aspect. “But I don’t really understand what use that would have in a game session.”

“It’s all about your splintered self!” Meulin says in a manner more chipper than a sentence like it should sound. “That means understanding all the parts of your soul. It’s knowing how the people around you work. It’s more useful than you think!”

“Well, gee, that’s pretty neat!” Jane says. “By the way... I don’t think really want to leave, but do you think there’s a memory of some sort of restaurant or park with a drinking fountain? I’m only asking because I am just a bit parched after all this talking. And I don’t want to drink the lilypad water.”

“Not to worry. I have it covfurred.” Jane tries to ignore the forced cat pun as Meulin took out a tablet-like item and seemed to scribble something. On cue, a pink tea set appeared, adorned with black cats. Jane was taken aback.

“I-How did you do that?” She asks. Meulin didn’t seem to hear her, but she looked up and noticed how perplexed Jane was. 

“What’s wrong?”

“The tea set! Where did you get it?”

Meulin tilts her head. “My sylladex.” She answers, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

“You can use your sylladex here?”

“Of course! You nevfur tried it? You keep evfurrything after death. And whatevfurr you find in the memeowries, you can keep!”

“Well, shucks!” She says, hands on her hips. “I honestly expected to run around the afterlife empty-handed for the rest of eternity. Pour me a cup!”


	8. ==>Feferi: Depart

“Did you hear that?” Jane said. “It sounds like someone screaming.”

As if on cue, a huge splash erupted not far from their lilypad. It was enough to pepper their clothes with water, but luckily not soak them. Jane had wondered if the slow movements was her imagination, but her seemed her suspicions about the floating lily pads were right. 

“Oooh, that must be your furrends!” Meulin says, placing her cup of tea down. “I’ll have to get out more teacups!”

Jane stood up, watching as the ripples moves away from the two trolls that had fallen. Squinting, she’s able to confirm Meulin’s theory as correct. Feferi’s shiny gold circlet with the Pisces sign, and Kankri’s nubby horns with his bright red sweater.

Jane reaches out to grasp Feferi’s hand, pulling the two trolls up. Kankri flops on the group with an annoyed huff. Judging from his reaction, he had been unceremoniously dragged by Feferi. Well, not like she could blame him for being annoyed. 

“Are you okay?” Jane asks, patting Kankri on the back. He sits up, coughing. 

“Please, Jane, if it is not too much trouble, my new list of triggers includes being dragged around by heiresses and being forced to fly or jump from large heights.”

“What about climbing?”

“ _Especially climbing!_ ” he exclaims, flustered. “Now please excuse me. I have to get this sweater dry.”

Jane watches, giggling a little as Kankri removes his sweater to wring it out. She only laughed more when she saw his _ridiculously_ high hiked pants, up to his chest. He only gives her a angry look, which was the equivalent of being threatened by a particular fluffy, a particularly small, and particularly non-threatening dog. 

Jane turns to Feferi, who holding a pink bubble. Curious, Jane watches as Feferi taps it, making the bubble stay in place. Deciding that she was now unoccupied, Jane walks up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry I ran like that, I didn’t expect to trip so suddenly...”

“Oh, that wasn’t your fault Jane.” Feferi says with a sigh, looking downtrodden. “It’s the dreambubble. It’s starting to become unstable. It’s been happening more and more lately.”

“Are you you sure? Meulin said it might be a transition period or something between memories.”

Feferi puffs out her cheeks. “Jane, I made the Dreambubbles! I _think_ I’d know what I’m carping about.”

“Okay, you’re right.” Jane says. “But what does it mean if it gets unstable?” 

“It’s means the bubble is going to pop Jane. People would be forced to wade in the void for eternity! Or just wade around until they swim into another dreambubble. Either way, it’s not good!”

“Gosh, that is horrible!” Jane says in horror. “How can you fix this?”

“Kankri suggested I send out a mass rebubbling to get the word out to everyone in this dreambubble. He also suggested I try to find the other versions of me, and contact the Horrorterrors to try and strengthen the bubbles. I don’t know if it’ll do any good, but it’s worth a try!”

“That’s great! Why don’t I help you? Heiresses like us have to stick together.” Jane asserts, patting Feferi’s head. She smiles, but it quickly melts. 

“About that...” she begins. “Jane, I reely wish you could come arlong, but not only am I unable to bring more than one person with me out of the dreambubbles; I need to do this on my own. 

Jane frowns, a little hurt. Feferi seems to notice this, and quickly continues. “It’s not that I don’t think you wouldn’t be useful! To be completely honest, I would have loved to spend more time with you. I never got to meet another hieress apparent. You’re like some sort of... close lusus, but not a lusus. Moray like a fellow troll under the same lusus. As if we hatched from the same egg!”

“Like a sister?” Jane suggests.

“Shore! I don’t reely know what that is but I will assume it’s a human term for what I mean. But regardless, the Dreambubbles are my kingdom now, and I need to protect my subjects. This is shrimply something I need to do, as their empress.”

Jane smiles. As sad as she was, she did feel a sense of pride in Feferi. She did wish she could get to know Feferi better, but the connection they had due to their status as heiresses made her feel like a little sister to Feferi. She did want to protect her, but despite looking like it, she was _not_ a naive little girl. “That’s great. I’m certain you would made a wonderful heiress. But, assuming you come back, how will you find us?”

Feferi giggles. “I have my ways. Remember! I created this place!” She turns, like she was ready to get going, but Jane quickly stops her. 

“Hold on. Before you leave, how do we move between dreambubbles?” She asks. 

“You just keep walking!” Feferi says confidently. “Eventually, this part of the dreambubble will pass through another one, and you can dive into that one! Also, since you can fly, it’s probubbly best that if this bubble pops, you grab onto Kankri and the Leijon ancestor. I don’t think you three are going to separate anytime soon.”

Suddenly, Feferi leaps, over a few floating lily pads and onto a low hanging branch. Jane watches, surprised at Feferi’s bounding ability, and Feferi turns, a smile on her face and waving back. “Bye Jane! I promise I’ll see you soon!” She shouts, leaping away from Jane and further into the dreambubble.

“You stay safe!” Jane shouts back, her voice echoing through the memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully the thriple chapter combo is gonna compensate for the next chapter being put on hold for a 4/13 anniversary peice. But if I’m honest, the next chapters I have in mind are going to be quite different...


	9. ==>Jane: Set a New Goal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slow progress, but progress nonetheless.
> 
> Next chapter will be about Jake again.

Jane turns, her eyes closed, inhaling and exhaling as a way to calm herself. She figures she shoudln’t be This distraught over Feferi leaving, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t already have a protective instinct towards her. Maybe it was that little sliver of relatability between them, being heiresses and all. She opens her eyes and turns back to see Meulin speaking with Kankri. It was something she was very excited about, but it seemed one-sided with Kankri’s disinterested expression.

“So then, I found out Purrim had dated Cronus during their timeline, and you know how Cronus is whenevfur someone pays attention to him? Well—“

“Meulin, I only asked if you had seen Porrim.” Kankri says, lifting his hand up to cut her off. “I did not ask for a complete history of every conceivable Porrim’s quadrants, which is a subject I could gain an understanding of just by standing next to Porrim for few minutes.”

“Aww, but I thought you’d like to know who Purrim was with these days.” Meulin replies, dejected. “Or, you know, who she’s doing.”

Meulin erupts in a fit of giggles while Kankri rolls his eyes, but Jane noticed he was embarrassed

“Oh, you know Meulin?” Jane asks, walking forward. Meulin hadn’t stopped laughing yet, so she probably couldn’t hear her. She had a suspicion, since the two of them seem to have a more varied fashion sense than the trolls she was familiar with; with the exception of _one_ certain Cerulean.

“Yes, this is Meulin.” Kankri repeats as if it were necessar, gesturing to the olive blood still in a fit of waning giggles. “I’ll assume you two are already familiar with each other to an adequate degree, since she blew off my attempts to educate her on your history and potential triggers.”

“That’s... a nice thought.” Jane says, not sure what response would be the nicest. It was at least good to hear that Kankri thought it was taking the time to educate people on her ‘triggers’, which seemed to be his way of showing he cared. 

“Sorry, Kankri, I got so worked up with all the shipping Purrim does!” Meulin says, putting her hand on Kankri’s shoulder. He sides eye the gesture, but doesn’t move away. “But, no, I haven’t seen Purrim around in a while. It’s such a shame too beclaws she and I are rumor mates!”

“I should have guesses.” Kankri says with a sigh. “I apologize for bothering you Meulin, but Jane is very intent on finding her way to a certian Dreambubble.”

“Oh, I knew about that.” Meulin says, playfully sticking her tongue out at Kankri. 

“I keep hearing that going through memories is the only way.” Jane speaks up. “Feferi even told me that everyone should be leaving soon, supposedly the bubble isn’t going to be stable for very long. So, it’s best if Kankri and I got going.”

She hooks her arm around Kankri. She was able to yank him away, but it felt wrong to just leave Meulin here. Jane wanted to say goodbye, but when her mouth opened she said, 

“Do you want to come with us?”

Meulin went into excited hysterics, and it was actually impressive how high-pitched her happy screech was. She runs forward and hugs Jane, picking her up and away from Kankri in a bear hug. 

“I would LOVE to Jane!” She exclaims. Jane smiled, finding Meulin’s excitement kind of endearing and cute, like Feferi. But Feferi had good volume control. 

She sets Jane down, taking her in one hand and Kankri in another. She being walking forward at a fast pace, rambling away.

“I have so many memeowries I want to show you!” She exclaims, dragging the two of them along. For someone who seemed very lithe, she was very strong. It was actually difficult for Jane to get loose. 

“Hold on!” Jane says, digging her heels into the ground. “Before we go, I want to discuss something first.”

Meulin stops, letting the two of them go. Jane sits, clutching her chest, and Kankri and Meulin follow. Kankri crosses his arms, watching as Meulin takes out her tablet. 

“Uh, Kankri, there is something I wanted to tell you that I only told Meulin.” She begins. “I guess it’s not all that important, but I think if we’re going to be traveling together, I just want you both to be on the same page.”

“Does it concern Jake and your feelings for him?” Kankri asks, which surprised Jane so much that she jumps. Guiltily, Meulin scribbled on her tablet, bringing up a piece of paper with hastily drawn portraits of Jane and Jake. They were making kissy faces with a heart in the middle.

If it weren’t so sudden and she were already dead, Jane would have died from embarrassment. Instead, her brain lagged as she looked at the paper Meulin was still presenting.

“Meulin informed me you had feelings for a human, and I was skeptical, even when she tried to give me psychical evidence.” Kankri explained as Jane stared at the paper. Meulin puts it down, her face a light green from blushing.

“I’m sorry! I only did it beclaws I thought you had some issues with Jake. But if you open up, I purrobably could help you!” Meulin argues, taking Captchalouging the paper. “I can tail you have a lot of purriblems with romance, and I have a lot of expurrience in romance!”

Her shock melted at that. Jane smiles, a sad one, but a genuine one nonetheless. She was embaressed and shocked, but she couldn’t find herself getting mad at Meulin. She seemed to mean well, even if sometimes she didn’t have a clue. ‘I’ll have to take you up on that offer.” Jane murmurs. She sighs, resting her chin in her hands. 

“I guess now I’m just confused and more than a little sad.” Jane admits. “Especially since Feferi left, on top of all the Jake stuff.”

“Aww, why?” Meulin asks. Her tablet captchalouge sat in her lap, ready to draw something else to take out. It looks like she’s about to draw a tea set, as there was a messy sketch present on the screen. 

“I guess... because I have some baggage to sort through.” Jane contemplates, “Mostly with the Condesce and Heiress things. I felt like Feferi would be a good person to talk to. Plus, she’s adorable.”

“Oh, that’s great! We know an heir-hiss!” Meulin says. She’s opens her mouth to continue, but Kankri spoke first.

“She was talking about Meenah, whom I told you about before. However, I don’t think Meenah is the type of person to talk about such matters, due to her role as heiress having significant differences on Beforus than on Alternia. Therefore, the Condesce’s expectations for an heiress would be radically different than Her Gracious Benevolence, so it’s likely Meenah will not be as sympathetic.”

“I don’t really want to look for Meenah anyway.” Jane comments, thinking back on all the things Kankri mentioned about her back when they on LOSAS. “But I guess with Feferi I could unload some baggage, so at least then I wouldn’t be forced to spend so long thinking about stuff that makes me sad. Isn’t that what you do when you’re dead? Reminisce?”

“Of course you do!” Meulin goes on. “But there’s sooo much else you can do to amewse yourself! You don’t have to spend all furever thinking about the pawst.”

“You mean past?” Jane asks, but Meulin continues.

“Purrhaps there is someone you want to talk to or get to know better.” She offers. 

That struck a chord with Jane. She thinks, remembering the final freak out on the Land of Frost and Frogs, and even before that. She remembered finding out, rather suddenly, that she had two kids through ectobiology. 

“Well, I suppose there are people I want to see.” She says. “Mainly, Karkat. I really want to apologize for what I did to him.”

“You knew my descendant?” Kankri asks, pleasantly surprised. “That’s actually quite advantageous for you. It just so happens that I met him during his journey through the dreambubbles.”

“I’ve heard of him too, but second-pawedly.” Meulin chirps. “My descendant Nepeta has a huge crush on him, but I don’t know where he is. But, I will say one thing! He’s _adorpawl!_ ”

“Well that’s great!” Jane exclaims. But her expression quickly changes, now doubtful. “But, I don’t know if anyone else I want to see. I don’t know which of my friends are dead or not.”

“You can always find different versions of your friends who have perished.” Kankri says. “The Dreambubbles hold infinite possible timelines and iliterations. In fact I daresay the countless possibilities of the dreambubbles makes it entirely possible for countless timelines and actions to be happening simultaneously within the dreambubbles.”

“I thought it was timeless here?”

“That is correct.”

Jane shakes her head. “Okay, I’m not going to think about that more than I should.” She stood, straightening out her robes. “But since you said that, I think after Karkat I want to find Roxy, Dirk, and my ecto-kids, John and Jade.”


	10. ==> Be Dave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH BOY IT’S JAKE AGAIN  
> Technically Dave but still.  
> Look at me rackin up word count with these longs chapters. I sure love words don’t i.

You can’t be Dave Strider because this is a third person narrator story. But you can read his thoughts at the moment,

Jake and Jade had been talking for a good hour now, so long that they hadn’t left Jade’s planet at all. Dave could only really tag behind them with mild interest, listening in on the stories Jake was telling peppered with so many archaisms Dave had trouble comprehending what the _hell_ he was talking about. He wanted to be nice and let Jade talk with her teen grandpa, especially since the only presence he had in her life was being a stuffed corpse in her basement. Though he would be lying if he said he wasn’t the least bit annoyed. Jake hadn’t looked back to talk with him once. If he really rationalized it, it’s likely Jake just was just shy or something. It made sense for him to talk with Jade since she was his own pal, somehow though both time and space, but he wasn’t going to question that aspect.

“… And then John threw a huge tantrum and started yelling at Davesprite, but he wasn’t even around!” Jade finishes.

“Golly! Sounds like ol’ John got quite a case of Cabin Fever. But why didn’t he ever try explore the other lands you had?”

“Well, we did, but our denizens were asleep so the most we could do was hand around the consort villages. Sometimes we went to my house or Dave or Rose’s land for a change, but it wasn’t much.”

Upon hearing his planet mentioned, Dave took it as a chance to insert himself into the conversation.

“You didn’t try to sort through my laundry did you? You remember back when you were my server player right Jade?” Dave says, putting himself between the two of them. Jade tries to look angry but bursts out laughing.

“We didn’t do any of that! We literally just looked around the planet. We never went into the houses once.” She says, pulling her hair back. Jake backs away, letting the two of them talk. Dave continues casually, deciding not to engage Jake quite yet.

“I don’t believe that for a second. I’m positive our houses would be a disgusting dump with all that garbage festering for three years. At least tell me you paid my consorts to clean it, but not too much so when I inevitably come back not much has changed.” Dave says. He looks to Jake, who’s still watching them with a nervous expression. Deciding now would be a good time to talk, he walks to Jake, trying to seem as non-threatening as possible.

“So uh... Grandad Harleybert.” He begins. “We haven’t really talked one-on-one yet, and I don’t want to seem rude cause it’s like, a dick move but it seems like you’ve been avoiding me.”

“Oh! Is that what it seemed like?” Jake asks. His voice wavers, like he was anxious. “Well I can confirm it has nothing to do with you, I guess it’s just because well... I don’t really know who are. By that I mean, I don’t really know a lot about you.”

Jake continues to nervously ramble away, which Dave decides to allow for his sake. He doesn’t hear half of what Jake is rambling about. Jade is beginning look embarrassed, but Dave doesn’t speak up until Jake finishes with a huff.

“Anyway, there was something I wanted to ask you.” Dave says, and Jake looks at him confused. No doubt he didn’t understand how it was related to anything else.

“Uh... sure! Any questions game for me!” He replies.

“What’d you know about my bro? Or, Dirk I guess. I never actually knew his name.”

Jake frowns, but then puts on a forced smile. “He’s a lot like you! Mostly in looks department.”

“Yeah, that happens when you’re genetically related. But was he like?” Dave emphasizes. Jake thinks for a moment as if deciding what would be good information to devulge, but continues with more confidence then before.

“Well, he was a really big fan of irony, but it was a really strange sort of irony. It would basically be doing bizarre and absurd things. For example, he once took a horse book for little girls, edited it by pasting text into it and then gave it to my friend Jane for her birthday! According to her it got all sorts of bizarre and kind of terrifying on a metatextual level, but I don’t really understand that last part.”

Dave laughs. “Holy shit, are you serious? Okay and here I thought he’d be more into puppet porn or some shit.”

“Oh he was! Actually I don’t know about the porn part but he was really into puppets. Horses too, but I guess you already assumed that. He also made a bunch of robots too, and even gave me one. Although technically I’d more accurate to say he sent me the parts and I to assemble them. The bot itself was... okay. Though it kicked my ass a lot.”

“No way! Dave’s bro made robots?” Jade chimed in. “That’s so cool! You know, my grandpa made me a robot too—”

As if on cue, the environment changed. The forests of Jade’s planet suddenly shifted into a stone white room. Posters were plastered on the walls, one of them Dave recognized as some sort of witch furry art, right under it being his renditions of furry Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff. Squiddle toys and manthro dolls. Pots of flowers hung from the ceiling and there was a large wardrobe set against the wall. Dave quickly notices the blue bed and the rifles leaning against the wall. Upon the switch, Dave could only mutter “Oh shit.”

All three of them were surprised at the shift, with Jake looking around confusedly. “What happened? Where are we?” He asks,. He walks forward and nearly falls down the stairs which has no railing, but luckily he remembered his flight just in time.

“This is my room!” Jade exclaims in awe, looking around at to familiar scene with nostalgia. “Oh my gosh, my rifles, I haven’t held one of them in ages!”

She walks over to her collection of rifles, grabbing one of them and pointing it at no one particular. She closes one eye as if aiming, and pulls the trigger, the only sound being the click of an empty gun. “It feels so real.” Jade remarks, aiming it downward.

“Okay, but what happened there?” Dave asks, moving to Jade’s side now. “You can’t tell me you weren’t surprised to.”

“Well, at first!” Jade says. “But since these are dreambubbles, I assume it changed so suddenly because of my memory. I started thinking about my house and then I was here. It happened before.”

“You mean like, when you Jade sprite?” Dave questions.

“Yeah, but there was also right before I went god tier. I met some of the trolls, one of them was Kanaya in her own room. But my memories of Jadesprite is a little fuzzy.” She explains. Jade suddenly frowns, looking around frantically. “Wait, where’s Jake?”

“I’m down here!” Jake calls. “In this atrium place. You sure did grow a lot of stuff!”

Dave follows Jade down to find Jake looking over the rows of pumpkins Jade kept. Jade instantly regards her garden with awe, running over to the rows of flowers. Dave looks at some of the flowers himself, taking note of how... well, nice they looked. He remembered Jade had suggested he tried gardening at his apartment, but that was a difficult task in the Texas sun. Although it probably didn’t help that he didn’t have pots and actual dirt. The most gardening he did was the weeds that grew there from the seeds and patches of dirt that were carried from the high winds.

“Say, Jade, does... changing your clothes without you knowing a thing too?” Jake asks. The two of them look up to see Jake now wearing a radically different outfit. Instead of the weird, robin-esque speedo he was now wearing something like a distinguished suit. Dave recognized it as one of the stock outfits explorers wore in any shitty video game or crappy cartoon, but this one just just stark white; the hat to Jake’s new outfit was being held in his hand.

“Hey, doesn’t your grandad dress like that?” Dave says, less in a questioning manner. “Is this a thing with dreambubbles too? I don’t actually remember visiting one like this.”

“Of course!” Jade says, walking up to Jake. “You know, you look just like a younger picture of him! I could show you down lower if you want!”

Jake grins, “Blimey, that’s be great!”

—

“Jesus Christ, I know your grandad brought back trophies but I didn’t think that meant literal corpses.” Dave says in disgust, looking down at one particularly ghastly corpse. Whatever it was in life, human or not, it was mummified and looking up aghast like it had been buried alive and trying to claw it’s way up. But in a weird way, the horror of the mummy was exactly what made it alluring. He found himself staring at the thing in bike fascination, wondering what it was and how it died, how it got itself mummified in the first place. Was it a person? An animal?

“Dave, we’re moving!” Jade calls, snapping him out of his stupor. He follows the voice, only to be confronted with the sight of Jade’s adult, stuffed grandpa standing before the lit fireplace, lighting up the room and himself with a haunting glow. Jake was looking up at him dumbfounded, no doubt lost in thought. Dave quietly walked around the fireplaces and couches, where the... dolls? Mummies? Sat in an orderly fashion. He wondered how the hell Jade could manage to come down here so often.

He found Jade crouched by a chest sitting in the corner, digging around it with a focused look. Dave knelt down next to her, shifting through the mess of trinkets and pictures in the chest as well.

“So... hows Jake?” He asks, pushing a large flintlock pistol out of his way.

“He’s just looking at himself. Or his stuffed, pre-scratch self.” Jade answers. “You know, don’t you think were being a little rude earlier?”

“You mean when I talked to him? I don’t know how else I was gonna get anything about bro out of him. It’s not even like I pointed at him and said ‘hey, tell me everything about my bro because you’ve been avoiding me this whole time’.”

“I know, but you could have just asked me.” She says. “Jake is a little... shy. I know because when we first wrote to each other he was really dodgy and didn’t want to give away too much. But when we got to know each other he was really friendly! Basically, what I mean is you’re being a little pushy. Jake will like you in due time.”

“Okay, well, I guess I’m just a little antsy about the idea of meeting Bro without knowing anything about him. I know about the irony and puppets thing but robots? That’s straight out of left field. I don’t even know if he likes other stuff. What if he’s a furry like you? Or some manga fan like John? Or both?”

“You’re just freaking out.” Jade says. “Besides, maybe your bro is a really cool and nice guy. Jake seems to think highly of him.”

Dave moves a bag of something, but with the way it rattles like glass it sounded like a pack of marble. Under the marbles, however, he found something that made him stop. Jade picks up a picture on his side with an ‘ahah!’ and would have shown Dave had she not caught a glimpse of the same picture he had now picked up.

It was a picture of a beautiful, glamorous looking black-haired woman who seemed straight out of an old movie. She had a very archaic kind of beauty about her, not like the women he found in modern magazines. Her hair was fluffy and well-kept, and she wore something like a necklace around her next. She was sitting next to two children, both which sported her black hair. They looked very little, and Dave could only assume the older of the two was just entering the later stages of toddler-hood. One of them was clearly female, with short, wild hair. The other looked male and his hair seemed thicker and longer than the girl, almost like a mullet, and he was already sporting large, square frame glasses.

“Hey, that kid looks like Egbert!” He says, pointing to the boy with the glasses. Surprised, Jade took the photo.

“This is... really old.” She says. “I remember seeing it when I was really young. I almost forgot about it.”

“So... Who are these guys?” Dave asks. Jade takes the picture, turning it over. Disappointingly, the only information revealed says ‘Hauntswitch, 1982’

“I don’t know.” Jade finally answers. “I remember finding this photo after my grandpa died. For some reason I thought it was distant family or maybe it was some friend’s family. I don’t have any idea who these people are.”

“Maybe it’s a younger Nanna Egbert and John’s Dad, and his aunt that he doesn’t know exists.” Dave offers. Jade ticks away the mystery photo, other photo still in hand; wordlessly standing up. Dave follows, “Are you gonna show that to him.?”

“No, I think he just as confused about it.” She says. She turns, calling for Jake. This seems to snap him out his stupor, and he comes closer to her. Jade shows him the photo, where a young Grandpa Harley, who looked identical to Jake, sat with a girl identical to Jane. They were both leaning against a large white dog, but Dave could tell the dog was not Bec. It had a dopey look on it’s face like a regular dog, instead of the weird, near faceless white Bec had. Jake whistles.

“Wow, I didn’t expect you to be so... right.” He says, taking the picture and looking it over. “It’s so bizarre to see pictures of yourself like this. It really feels like I’m supposed to know what it means, but I have no memory of it.”

“So that’s you and Jane then? Like on our earth?” Dave asks, pointing at Jane.

“Dave, I already told you.” Jade says, annoyed. But Jake answers yes.

“Yeah! In fact, I think I have a similar picture back in my memories.” He says. “But it was more sad, because it was my grandma and Jane’s grandpa, and neither of them looked very happy. But they sure did look a lot like you and John!”

“No way, there’s versions of us in your timeline?” Dave says, dumbfounded. “I mean, I already figured that but I guess it’s just weird to comprehend. What did I do? Do you know?”

“Yeah, but not everything! I know become a famous filmmaker and you own a huge media empire. Well, that and you eventually decapitated the two clown Presidents of the United States.”

“Jade, did you hear that?” Dave says, turning to Jade, who could only stare dumbfounded. “After everything we went though, I thought I was used to all kinds of crazy bullshit!”

**Author's Note:**

> In case you can't tell, this is unbeta'd…
> 
> Some liberties were taken, like the quip about Jake telling Jane about the Dreambubbles. I like to imagine he mentioned it to her at some point, but since it's been a while since I've reread certain parts of Homestuck, I could always be wrong :V
> 
> (Also, I was always under the impression that dead players could travel between dream bubbles as I always thought different players would inhabit separate Dreambubbles… as always, I could be wrong, but hey, changing that aspect wouldn't change much of the plot, luckily :V)


End file.
